Netherfield Prep
by writeriz
Summary: "It is a truth universally assumed that a stupidly rich boy must be in want of a girlfriend. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl who has just travelled half a world must be in want of a bed." - a YA modern reimaging of P&P set in an English boarding school with a set of sexy twins. Told in dual POV. Chapters 1 to 15. Full story on Amazon now (free in KU).
1. Chapter 1: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

It is a truth universally assumed that a stupidly rich boy must be in want of a girlfriend.

It is a truth universally _acknowledged_ that a girl who has just travelled half a world must be in want of a bed.

Sadly, neither was on the dance card this evening.

I rubbed my eyes. "So, we're done for now? Crisis averted? You are now test ready?"

Gemma smiled at me, her brown eyes and olive skin glowing. She looked over the page in front of her. "Thank you so much. Yeah, I think so, we just-"

"Oh my God!" Kate squealed.

"Oh my God, what?" I sighed, looking at her blonde hair and pale skin pop up from behind a bookshelf. I once again marvelled at the contrast between the three of us.

Kate brought a blue and red backpack over to us, and waved it in my ridiculously tired face. "Do you know who's this is?"

"I'm sure lots of people have that bag," I replied.

"Lily, _this_ is Austin Cooper's bag!"

Even in my verging-on-passing-out-in-exhaustion state, I was intrigued. Austin Cooper was apparently the hottest guy in school. Well, apparently one of the two hottest guys in school, given he was one of identical twins.

"How do you know it's his bag?" I asked, packing up my books.

I turned and smacked my leg into my suitcase. I winced. I had literally just arrived and been called to an emergency in the library by Gem and Kate, I hadn't even had time to find my dorm room.

"Because Kate only drools over him all the time," Gemma giggled.

"Why would he leave his bag in the library?" I asked, heaving my suitcase aside.

"Oh, mad idea!" Kate cried, earning a shush from the people around us.

I could totally believe it, coming from her. And, I was way too tired for whatever it was.

"I don't want to know. You guys can do whatever you want, I'm out. I just want to find my room and sleep through next week."

I shuffled around in my backpack, looking for my welcome pack so I could get the map to my dorm. I turned around to find Kate shoving the backpack into my suitcase.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed, anger and tiredness warring inside me. My brain felt like it was wading through quicksand.

"Shush, Jax is coming!"

I turned around and saw six-foot-plus of heavenly, ash brown-haired man-boy walking towards us in pale jeans and a white t-shirt. Under normal circumstances, I might have batted my eyes and said something witty when he stopped in front of us, but I'd just flown half a world from Australia and I hadn't slept in about… God, I didn't even remember how long. So, all I could do was appreciate his fine form in some foggy recessed part of my brain while glaring at him.

"Hi ladies." He smiled as he stopped in front of us. I heard Gem and Kate titter at his very posh accent. He gave them a wink with his blue-grey eyes. "I was just wondering if you'd seen a lonely bag around here? My arse of a brother seems to have wandered off without it again."

I opened my mouth and Kate nudged me quiet.

"No, no sorry, we haven't," she said. If she was trying to hide her smile, she was doing a terrible job.

"Not to worry, I'm sure we'll find it." He smiled, his glance raking over me, no doubt taking in my dishevelled I've-just-travelled-half-a-world appearance. "See you later."

He turned and walked away. Gemma and Kate watched his backside retreating. Then, if there was a physical action for swooning, they did it marvellously well.

"God, he's gorgeous!" Gemma sighed.

I loved my stepsisters, God knew I did, but I so didn't have the energy for this. I pulled the backpack out of my suitcase, pulled on my own and dragged my case after the retreating form of the ridiculously long-legged Jax.

"Jax!" I called, sighing. "Hey, Jax!"

He disappeared and I stopped short as he reappeared in front of me.

I blinked; no, it was my tired eyes playing tricks on me. This Jax had longer hair that fell in front of his eyes and brushed his collar. This Jax wore different clothes – dark jeans, a maroon button-up shirt open over a charcoal t-shirt – and had faint tattoos visible up his arms under his rolled up sleeves. This Jax woke up my foggy brain somewhat, but then promptly sent it back off on vacation.

I could do nothing but gape at the guy in front of me. He gave me an expressionless once over, taking in the backpack, the suitcase trailing behind me, and my creased clothes. He raked his hair out of his face and looked none too impressed.

"It sounds like it's my brother you're after, but I see you found my bag," he said.

"What? Oh, yes, sorry."

"Oz, man!" Jax came jogging back. "Oh, hey you _did_ find it." He smiled at me.

"Yeah…lucky, huh? I was just coming to return it to you, but…ah…here." I held it out and waited for Austin to take it.

When he didn't, Jax took it and shoved it into his brother's chest. His eyes still on me, Austin put a hand up to grab it. Jax stuck his hand out and I shook it uncertainly, finally dragging my eyes off Austin.

"Jax Cooper. My brother, Austin." He nodded his head towards him.

"Lily Brewer," I replied.

Jax cocked an eyebrow. "Related to Gemma and Kate?"

I sighed; here came the convoluted explanation that was my immediate family. Time to explain how I was indeed related to the tall, willowy girls I'd known and loved most of my life. But, next to them, I was the stepsister lacking in heights and looks. Good thing I had the brains.

"Stepsister. My Dad, Gemma's Mum, also Kate's Stepmum."

"And it all becomes so much clearer!" Jax teased.

I nodded. "Yeah, it's…complicated."

"So what brings you to Netherfield at this time of year?"

I fidgeted and looked away from them for a moment. My teeth grazed my bottom lip as I turned back to them and hitched my bag up my shoulder.

"My mum died and I was sent to live with Dad. Apparently Dad's version of living with him is being sent to boarding school."

Jax's smile faltered.

"And, they don't have…help…where you're from?" Austin asked, disgust evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry, what?" I rounded on him, my anger flaring again.

"I would have assumed you'd…have someone to take your bag to your dorm to save you carting it about the school."

I glared at him. Seriously? A guy blessed with his good looks should, under no circumstances, be such an absolute wanker.

"Come on, Oz. Don't be a dick. She's got me." Jax seemed to find his smile. He stepped forward and put his hand out as though offering to take my case. He towered over me.

"Thanks, I'm sure I can manage." I smiled, trying to be polite, but it felt forced even to me.

Jax nodded. "I'm sure you could. But, you don't need to. What dorm room are you?"

I sighed and let him take the case; I just didn't have the energy to argue. "Let me check." I pulled out my dorm allocation and showed it to him.

"Excellent. Longbourn Wing, room thirty-nine." Jax smiled. "Follow me."

He picked my case up by the side strap, ignoring the wheels and I followed him through more hallways and corridors. Austin fell into step with his brother.

"So, you're new on this side of the world, too, huh?" Jax asked over his shoulder.

"Mm hm," I replied, avoiding the looks of students passing us.

The way Gem and Kate had talked about the Cooper twins, they were essentially royalty, at least at school. I could just imagine what it looked like having a travel-logged nobody trailing behind them as one of them carried her bag.

"Good, here we are." Jax smiled. "Hey, you know the way to the dining hall?"

I shook my head.

"Ah, well I could come past and-"

"Thank you, but I'm sure my sisters will come and find me when they're done in the library. I hope," I muttered as I knocked on the door.

A girl about my height with light brown hair and blue eyes framed by thick glasses opened the door. She took her glasses off and looked at me questioningly. I was startled by the transformation.

"Uh, hi." I smiled. "Lily Brewer."

"Oh, yes…" She looked between the two huge guys flanking me and I saw her noticeably swallow. "Anne Macklin. You must be my roommate." She spoke with a soft, clipped accent.

I was going to answer when Jax pushed past me. "Hi, Jax Cooper, I'm amazed we've never met before."

Anne looked at the hand he proffered. "We've…uh…been at school together for five years," she said softly.

"Oh," he dropped his hand and a blush crept up his face, "sorry. Lovely to meet you now, anyway…"

"If you're done with your chivalrous acts for the day, brother, can we go?" Austin asked, sounding bored.

"God, you're like a little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" I blurted out. "I expect you shit rainbows and glitter, and spend your time nursing orphans." I ignored his open mouth and turned to Jax. "Thank you very much for your help. I'm glad someone's making the Cooper name look good on this side of the world. Where I come from, Coopers is a beer, so it _is_ hard to live up to _that_."

Jax grinned. "You, Lily Brewer, are great. Isn't she great, Oz?" He elbowed his brother, but I refused to look at the infuriating, handsome guy with the perpetual scowl.

"Of course, Jax," he said softly, then turned and walked away.

"Well, here's your case. Anne, it was lovely to meet you. I do hope we'll have a chance to talk again." Jax bowed extravagantly and jogged to catch up with his twin.

I turned to Anne who looked shocked out of her mind. "Sorry about that, I've been in the library for three hours, straight off a plane, and…ugh, that Austin Cooper has the worst manners of anyone I've ever met."

Anne smiled as I picked up my case and hauled it into the room. "It's lovely to meet you, Lily. And, don't worry about the Cooper brothers. I suspect he was born with that stick up his butt, and Jax? Well, Jax is the nicest boy you will ever find in this place." She sighed a little and I smiled at her.

"Carrying a torch?" I asked.

She looked down, putting her glasses back on. "I don't think there's a girl in this school who doesn't carry some sort of torch for Jax Cooper." She smiled ruefully. "Now, come in and get settled, then we'll head down to dinner."

The room was larger than I'd expected. It was a mirror image of itself; each side had a double bed against the wall, a bedside table on each side. Under the window were a chest of drawers and a desk. On the wall with the door was a long wardrobe.

The difference was, one side was entirely bare, while the other was full of pictures and posters, books and a couple of bean bags.

I lugged my case onto the bare bed and opened it. The first thing I did was pull out my new phone – my stupid Australian one wasn't going to work here – and turned it on. As I started pulling a change of clothes from my bag, the phone went off with multiple text messages. They were all from Dad's secretary, who informed me the rest of my things were running late and I wouldn't get them until next week. Oh, goody, a week with only what I'd packed. I sighed, desperately wanting a hot shower

"Everything okay?" Anne asked. I turned to find her sitting on her bed.

I huffed a laugh. "Yeah, seems the rest of my stuff won't be here for a while."

"Oh, that sucks, do you have a uniform?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I made sure I packed one set of everything in case. But, I hate to see what state it's in after a round the world trip."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." She smiled warmly.

"Is there time for a shower before dinner?" I asked.

She looked at her watch and nodded, her pretty eyes large behind her glasses. "We've got about forty-five minutes? Bathroom's down the hall."

I sighed. _Of course it was_. "Great, I'll be back in a bit."

Anne nodded again. I rummaged in my case until I found a towel and my toiletries bag. I pulled open our door and paused.

"Left," Anne said and I heard the smile in her voice.

"Thanks." I smiled back before heading out.

Of all the roommates I could have been landed with, Anne was by far one of the best options. At least I didn't have to room with Gemma and Kate. I did love them, honestly… But, God, were they…young and rambunctious, shall I say? They were two grades below me, but sometimes they acted like they were about twelve.

The bathroom had more privacy than I thought it would – so, yay for that – and I could shower in peace.

The worst part was heading back to my room in nothing but my towel – because I hadn't thought about the after shower part – carrying my things with my wet hair tumbling around my shoulders. And, of course, it was then, half-naked, that I saw Austin again.

We passed each other in silence. But, he stared at me with such intensity that I felt myself blush. _Stupid redhead tendencies_. He really did have beautiful grey eyes, though. _Beautiful, angry eyes…_


	2. Chapter 2: Austin

**Austin**

* * *

She'd taken me completely off-guard. Made entirely worse when I realised she was related to Gemma and Kate. Such a pair of absolute airheads as I have ever met!

Still, this Lily seemed different. Her accent, for one, was different to the London tones of the other Brewers. She had been brought up in Australia by the sound of it. Her mind seemed sharper than I would have expected, her green eyes holding a flash of intelligence I assumed must have been a fluke.

"Oz, man, you need to loosen up," Jax said, giving my shoulder a half-hearted punch as I stared at my food.

"I assure you, Jackson, I am fine." I turned to him. Aside from two distinct differences of our eye colour and hair length, it was like looking in a mirror. Of course, it would have to be a day when anything and everything did not get on my last nerve for my face to display such annoying happiness.

"Man, come on. Term is only two more weeks, then we can relax!"

"Jackson, if you relaxed any more, you'd be dead," I commented dryly and he laughed.

He nudged me as I heard a shrill laugh and followed his gaze to where four girls were walking in to the dining room. My eyes immediately recognised the tall Brewer sisters, hurrying in ahead of their companions and giggling like hyenas. Behind them, it took me but a moment to recognise Lily and Anne, arm-in-arm and talking quietly to each other.

"Damn, new girl's hot!" Cassandra nudged Jax, who bumped into me.

I glared at her. "There is no need to be so vocal."

"Didn't I tell you he needs to loosen up?" Jax asked our cousin.

"You did," she gave me a quick look, "and you do." She laughed, turning back to watch Lily. "What kind of seventeen-year-old doesn't appreciate a fine form?"

"Be careful, Cassandra, she may not bat for your team," I replied, not wanting to tell her I was plenty capable of appreciating a fine form.

In fact, watching Lily walk across the room had me very appreciative of her fine form. She was much less crumpled than earlier, and thankfully more clothed than I'd last seen her. She wore a long skirt now, which hid what I knew to be very attractive legs, and a singlet that clung to her generous curves in a way that made me want to cover her with my shirt…among other things.

I shook my head and turned back to my steak.

"Have you ever noticed that Anne girl before?" I heard Jax ask.

"Which one?" Cass asked.

"The one with the new girl."

"The new girl has a name," I muttered.

"Yes, I know. Yet, I'm not the one who insulted her after she told us her mother died, now am I?" Jax snarked.

"You did what?" Cassandra choked on her cola.

"I merely asked her a question," I said, raking my hand through my hair. My eyes scanned the room, but I wasn't sure what they were looking for until they found Lily again.

The four of them were sitting at a table with a girl and guy who I barely recognised. She chatted animatedly with them, her smile lighting up her face as though the sun chose to shine over her like a spotlight.

"Cass, back to this Anne girl…" Jax said.

"I've seen her around I guess. I mean, she's not _unfamiliar_ , but I don't know her. Why?" She laughed and I looked to Jax's face. "You have a crush on the little nerd, don't you?"

I could tell by Jax's lazy smile that he did indeed have his eye on this Anne girl.

"Jackson-"

"She is _beautiful_ , Oz…" he breathed.

I shook my head and looked at her again. "Yes, she is very attractive. Behind those glasses, if she cleaned herself up, I would hazard she could be the prettiest girl in the whole place."

Cassandra breathed out. "That's a tall claim, Austin. What about Lily?"

"You're just interested because she's fresh meat," I answered.

"Doesn't answer the question, Cooper."

I looked at the girls again. Yes, Anne was a very good-looking girl, if a bit shy, and I stood by my statement. I was interested in why we had never noticed her before. However, there was a spark in Lily Brewer that held my interest far more readily.

"She's pretty, but she's not my type," I answered.

At that moment, Lily looked up at me. A flicker of annoyance passed over her face before she turned back to Anne. Through the rest of dinner, she shot glances at me now and then. Which, of course, I only knew because I looked at her equally often.

"Sure, brother, you tell yourself she's not your type," I heard Jax chuckle

* * *

Later, in our room, we were playing a game on our console.

"Oi, do you think that Anne girl wants to go to the party with me on Friday?" Jax asked.

"Lord, I don't know. Why don't you ask her and find out?" I asked as my avatar peered around a building.

"You could ask Lily."

I rolled my eyes. He was always like this when he saw a beautiful girl; fall madly and instantly in love then try to pair me up with the closest girl to her.

"Thank you, if I was inclined to invite a girl to these stupid parties, I'd like to think I could find my own."

"You'd like to think that, Oz." Jax smiled. "But, you, brother, with your long hair, tattoos and _very_ approachable face," he laughed and my indignant splutter, "you haven't exactly got girls clamouring to speak to you; oh, they'll watch you intently, but none of them would have the guts to actually speak to you. You could try smiling once in a while."

"I smile."

"Ha! You smile about as often as I flirt with boys," Cassandra said as she came in.

"You're not helping, cousin," I muttered, throwing down my controller and getting up. "I could smile if I wanted to."

"You're certainly a comedian," Jax joked.

I smiled as I hid my laugh.

"See, look!" Jax pointed, looking to Cassandra for back up.

"If I had any idea what your nutters were on about, I might be able to weigh in on this conversation." She shrugged.

Jax swivelled around and lounged back in his chair. "Do you think that Anne girl would go to the party on Friday with me?"

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "And, why do you want to ask her, Jackson?"

He laid his head on the back of the chair and sighed. "She's beautiful, Cass."

She looked at me and I nodded.

"I know, don't look at me. I tried to stop the madness, but it will just have to run itself out." I smiled wryly.

" _Have_ you gone mad?"

"I think he should ask Lily," Jax said lazily.

Cassandra laughed. "Because she'll want to go with him."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, looking between them.

"Don't tell me you wanted to ask her?" Cass laughed.

"That's not the point, if I did want to – which I don't – but if I did, then I could easily persuade her."

"It would, first, require you actually wanting to go to a party, Oz, and I don't see that happening." Cass plonked herself down on my bed.

"Make yourself at home, Cassandra," I muttered.

"I will, thank you." She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Right, now, Jax, tell me about this Anne."

He blinked at her. "Well, she's beautiful."

"Aha, because that is a great basis for a relationship." Cass snorted. "In that case, Oz will have a million girls bursting in that door in any second."

"You saying I'm beautiful, Cass?" I smiled.

"You both know you're very attractive boys. And, if I batted for your team, I'd entirely have a go at both of you. Probably at once." She winked and I laughed at her twisted sense of humour.

"So, why aren't girls lining up at my door if they are at his?" Jax asked.

I snorted. "Are you blind, man? There are probably girls outside right now just waiting to bump into you."

"Do you think Anne's there?" he asked, looking towards the door.

"Lord, really?"

Cass looked at me. "You know…I worry about him…"

"You're not the only one." I smiled. "Are you going to the party with anyone?"

She shrugged. "I'm going, but whether I'm going _with_ anyone or not…" She winked.

"You're incorrigible, Cass," I laughed.

She lay down. "You know me, Oz. I don't like to narrow down my options."

"I know you're waiting for some rich lass to sweep you off your feet," Jax laughed.

"Did you just say 'lass'?" I looked at him.

"There's nothing wrong with the word lass. It's very romantic," Jax replied and I snorted.

"And, you're nothing if not romantic, are you, brother?"

"Oh, I don't know, I think Jax could romance the socks off a girl if he wanted," Cass said.

"I don't imagine its Anne's _socks_ he wants to romance off," I chuckled and Cass joined me.

Jax narrowed his eyes at us. "I'll have you know-"

"I do _not_ want to know what your intentions are for her, Jax," I said, holding up my hand. "You can intend what you want, but don't come crying to me because she's clingy when you stop paying attention to her."

"I'm going to ask her," Jax said.

"You do that."

"You should ask Lily."

"For God's sake, mate. I am not asking out the roommate of the girl you're interested in. You can date a girl without me getting close to her friends. If they even will be friends."

"This is less about my needing a wingman, and more about your happiness, Oz."

I snorted. "I am perfectly happy, Jax."

"Tell us what's wrong with this one."

"What is that supposed to mean, Cass?" I turned to her. She leant back on her elbows and her eyebrows were raised.

"Tell us the last girl you were interested in."

I crossed my arms and looked between the two of them. "Anita."

They both snorted.

"Anita? And, how old were you when you liked her? Ten?" Cassandra asked.

"He was thirteen," Jax replied. "And she was our babysitter."

"I believe she preferred the term _Au Pair_ ," I replied.

"I believe she preferred Dante the pool boy." Jax snorted. "Besides, babysitter or _Au Pair_ , she wasn't exactly attainable, was she?"

"Brother, she didn't need to be attainable. You asked me the last girl I was interested in," I replied.

"Does no one else compare to her, Austin?" Cass teased, batting her eyelids.

I thought about the redheaded Lily with her long, slim legs and bright smile, and grinned. "I don't need a girl to make me happy."

"Don't let Aunt Celia hear you say that." Jax shuddered. "She wants us married off to our eligible ladies as soon as possible."

"Can we not finish school first? Must you find the love of your life before you graduate?"

Jax shrugged. "I should think Aunt Celia would prefer us married already."

"That's not even legal!"

"Because that will stop her." He snorted.

"And, what will Aunt Celia think of Anne?"

"Aunt Celia can bite me."

"If she can bite you, why do I have to find a girl?"

"Because, you finding a girl will be the last thing she wants." Jax grinned.

"She still trying to get you together with Petal van What's-her-face?" Cass laughed.

"Aunt Celia is quite adamant Austin will marry Fleur van Wilhausen." Jax giggled.

"Because Fleur isn't?"

"Both Fleur and Aunt Celia can bite my arse," I muttered, turning on my heel and walking out of the room.

I needed to clear my head; I had a ridiculous redhead's smile flitting through it.

"I'm sure Fleur'd love to," I heard Cass laugh through the closed door.


	3. Chapter 3: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

My first week at Netherfield was as disastrous as I'd expected it to be.

For starters, I had one uniform to last me the whole week. Secondly, Gemma and Kate were a right royal pain in my arse, not helped by the fact that Dad had called me on Wednesday as I hurried from one class to another. I'd answered my phone as I pushed through the throng of students in the hallway, rolling my eyes when I saw the caller ID.

"Look, now is not a good time," I said, looking for any signs to point me in the right direction.

"Lily, is that any way to greet your father?" his voice was stern.

"Do you not own a clock, Dad?" I snapped, my frustration rising, "I'm between classes and have no idea where I'm going. So, if it's not urgent, I will speak to you later."

"You do not need to take that tone with me, Liliana Brewer. I only wanted to check you are taking care of your sisters? Lord knows they need some guidance."

"Jesus, Dad. As best I can, yes. Although, it _is_ an awful lot easier now I'm on the same side of the world as them. You're their father, as much as that's worth, shouldn't you be providing the guidance?"

I could almost hear his jaw clenching and see his face flush. "You are testing my patience, Lily. I am your father. I deserve more respect-"

"And, what about Mum, huh?" I asked, feeling a lump forming in my throat. "Did she not deserve more respect? I have to go." I hung up on him and stood in the middle of the hallway, blinking back tears.

I'd barely had any time to think about Mum in the last few days. She'd died of cancer, so it was expected, but I still hadn't been ready to say that final goodbye. Knowing her departure meant I'd have to live with my father only made it worse, especially after all he'd put us through over the years. But, then I was shipped off to boarding school and had felt a small sense of relief.

The hallways were clearing as students found their classrooms. But, I didn't have the energy to move. Dad had always been an epic wanker. Though Gemma and Kate seemed not to notice, my stepmum, Claire, did. Why they were still together was beyond me. I'd watched him break Mum's heart when he left her for Claire's money… I assumed as long as he had it, he didn't care what their relationship was like. Claire, though, I did like; she was sensible and kind, and loved the three of us equally.

"Lil! There you are!" I heard Anne call and saw her hurry towards me. "Next time, I'm not even letting you go to the bathroom alone. So much for your map reading skills."

I choked out a laugh amidst the tears. "Sorry, I got totally disoriented. The kids are like a current."

She looked at me as though she realised I was about to burst into tears at any moment, but she said nothing. She smiled. "Yeah, you'll get totally swept up if you're not careful. Come on, this way."

She took my elbow and led me through the labyrinthine corridors for a most exciting English lesson. Seriously, it was thrilling, I tell you.

* * *

There was a common room in the Longbourn dorm wing, and Anne told me that was where everyone hung out after lessons before dinner. So, that was what we did. I seemed to have accumulated a small group of people to sit with; along with Anne was her sister Marie and her friend Charlie, and of course Gemma and Kate.

Marie was an odd sort, hidden behind lumpy woollen jumpers and tome-sized books, her thick glasses sliding down her nose. She was a plain girl, nothing like her older sister, with non-descript brown hair and eyes. When she talked, she seemed to constantly lecture, but I sensed she had a good heart.

Charlie was lovely. He was a tall, lanky boy with brown hair and hazel eyes. We hit it off straight away, but I could tell as soon as I met him that there was no chance he'd be hitting on me. It's not that I thought I was wonderful enough for every guy to fall at my feet, I just didn't want there to be any chance guys would flirt with me; my dad had ensured that.

Friday was no different. Although, I'd been told there was some party on that night, to which we could-

"What's he doing here?" I heard Kate squeal and rolled my eyes.

"What's who doing here?" Anne asked, looking around, and then gasped. "Oh my God!"

I looked up at her, smiling at the look of absolute horrified excitement on her face and followed her gaze. Jax strode towards us, still in his navy and grey uniform, grinning at Anne. Austin followed behind, also in his uniform, but he looked more bored than ever. His gaze swept the room as though he had something gross under his nose and he'd much rather be leaving than arriving.

"What an arse," I muttered.

Marie looked up. "Austin Cooper? Yes," was all she said before going back to her book.

Charlie and I exchanged a smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when Jax came up to us.

"Lily, nice to see you." He smiled. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he turned to look at Anne. "Anne, how are you?"

Anne shot me a questioning glance. I shrugged and snuck a glance at Austin who stood behind his brother, his arms crossed as though he expected someone to come running up and attack them or something.

"I'm fine, Jax, thanks. How are you?"

He beamed. "Good, good. Uh…look, I was just wondering if you might want to go to the party with me tonight?"

Gemma and Kate giggled and grabbed each other's arms. I was about to hush them when Anne threw me another look, this one was more panicked than anything else. She looked up at Jax adoringly and I had the distinct feeling her brain had melted.

I laughed. "She'd love to, Jax."

Jax looked between us, uncertainty marring his adorably open expression. "Don't feel you have to. I-"

"No, no. That would be great," Anne said in a small voice, smiling.

Jax beamed around at us again. "Awesome, I'll, uh, pick you up at half eight?"

"I can meet you there? Our wing's a bit out of your way."

He chuckled. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

She nodded, seeming not quite sure what else to say.

"Great, I'll see you ladies, then." He bowed extravagantly.

When he turned, Austin gave him a tight smile before staring at me. His intense grey eyes seemed to be looking for something in my face and I had the distinct desire to punch him in his smarmy face.

"You right?" I asked him.

He blinked at me a couple of times before turning after Jax, who was saying hello to every person he passed, regardless of the startled looks on their faces.

"Oh my God!" Gemma and Kate giggled, falling about like the lunatics they were.

I rolled my eyes at them, but couldn't help but smile; they were infuriating, but they couldn't help who they were.

"So, a date with the infamous Jax Cooper?" I said to Anne, who blushed demurely and smiled down at her lap.

Charlie smiled behind his computer screen, while Marie only huffed in the most disapproving tone. She was on par to be the perfect match for Austin, at this rate.

* * *

We'd spent half an hour after dinner getting ready, and Jax turned up right on half past eight.

I hadn't known what to expect from a dorm party at a prestigious boarding school full of kids too rich for their own good.

But, when we walked into the Meryton Dorm wing, it looked like any normal teenage party to me. I followed Anne and Jax in as my phone dinged. I dug it out of my pocket and found a text message.

 ** _Kate_** _: It is so unfair it's a_ _Year 12 party! You sure you can't swing us an invite? ;)_

I sighed, not bothering to reply because I had no idea what to say. What the hell was the protocol in these situations? I hadn't even known it was just for our year, I'd just turned up.

I could entirely imagine what Austin McSnooty-pants would say if I told my sisters they could come.

"You all right, Lil?" Jax called.

I smiled and waved my phone at him. "Just Kate bemoaning her lack of invitation."

"I'll put their names at the door!" He smiled, then turned back to the guy at the door. "Yo, Adam, when Gemma and Kate Brewer get here, go on and let them in!"

"Oh, I'm sure you don't..." He waved a hand and I stammered to a stop.

"It's no problem, Lil."

"Jack, man!" someone called.

He looked to Anne, who smiled shyly. "Go on, we'll be fine."

He took her hand and kissed it. "I'll be back in a bit."

"How is it one of them is ridiculously nice and the other is an utter wanker?" I asked Anne as I texted Kate back; I'd never hear the end of it if they found out their names were on the door and I hadn't told them.

"They've always been like that. Austin is just very... I think the polite term is proud." She laughed, her eyes on Jax. "I don't know why Jax hasn't got a girlfriend, though. Plenty of girls would be more than happy to play the role."

I put my arm through hers. "Perhaps he's one of those rare, decent guys who's actually waiting for the right girl to come along to shower with all his love? Instead of just superficially sharing it about."

"You don't sound like you put a lot of faith in love, Lil," she said, squeezing my arm.

"I've learnt not to put a lot of faith in a man's love."

Anne laughed. "Yet, you encourage me? Why would Jax even want me?"

"Because, much like him, you don't seem to know how beautiful and kind you are. Besides, you, Anne, are not me; your man is right in front of you." I nodded towards Jax, who was watching Anne as he talked to Austin and a blonde girl.

She blushed. "And what about _your_ man?"

"I imagine it would take someone extraordinary to persuade me to fall in love."

At that moment, I locked eyes with Austin. For a split second, his face was almost tender and it felt like we were having some romance novel moment. Then, I heard the yell behind me and saw his look of utter disbelief before he turned to the girl next to him.

"No. I'd rather be the proverbial crazy cat lady. At least the worst animals can do is die on you," I said grumpily as my sisters hugged me, shrieking their thanks.


	4. Chapter 4: Austin

**Austin**

* * *

Annoyingly, I hadn't been able to keep myself from staring at Lily. The look of pure engagement on her face as she walked in was novel after all the years we'd spent doing this; there was at least one party somewhere, two nights a week in this place.

Lily was standing with Anne while Anne stared at Jax. I had no idea what they were talking about, but Anne looked unsure and uncomfortable. Lily had just caught my eye when her stepsisters came rushing in, squealing. Any positive thought I might have had about Lily was washed away in a second at the reminder of who her sisters were.

I had never met the parents, but the father seemed little better than a gold-digger. I imagined the mother's first two husbands had been the same. Evidence suggested the daughters were as idiotic as their father-figure and after someone rich to coast through life. Lord knew there were enough of their type in the Longbourn Dorm wing.

"Kill me now, Cass. I mean it," I said, turning to her.

She laughed. "Just try to put on a decent face and have some fun."

I glared at my brother as the Brewer girls continued to giggle incessantly. "Was this _your_ doing?"

"Lighten up, Oz!" Jax smiled. "They wanted to come."

"Jax, if we opened the doors to everyone who wanted to come, then we'd end up with the whole school here," I sighed.

"You know how I hate to agree with Jax, but even I think you could do with a little chill-out," Cassandra replied, folding her arms. "This isn't even your party, Austin."

Jax laughed. "You think that'll stop him complaining about everything wrong with it?"

"If you're so particular, why don't you have your own damn party?" Cass asked me.

"Because parties are a waste of time where all we do is sneak in alcohol, girls throw themselves at you, and you have to clean up."

"I'm not seeing the problem," Cass replied.

I sighed again and raked a hand through my hair. "Have you no…decency? There are more important things than getting drunk and…fornicating!"

Cass snorted. "What are you? Grandad? Who calls it fornicating anymore? Calls it like it is, Oz; sex. And you could use some, might get your panties out of that knot!" She picked two cups off the table behind her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a young lady over there with my name on her. Or, she soon will." She sauntered off.

"Likewise, brother," Jax said, looking hesitant.

"Just go, I will be fine on my own, I assure you."

"Cass is right; you need to unbunch your panties, Oz."

"I do not need to have sex!" I hissed a little too loudly.

"I didn't mean to say you did. Or that you should. I just think you'd do well to relax a bit, man." Jax clapped me on the arm. "Dude, you're just getting more wound up as years go on. We're not even eighteen yet, you're not supposed to be this uptight until we're middle-aged, married to women Aunt Celia picked out for us, and have ten kids between us that we despise."

"Someone has to follow family protocol-"

"Like you do with your long hair and your tattoos?" Jax interrupted.

"Aunt Celia abides them."

"Aunt Celia _abides_ them because she thinks you're going to marry Fleur and she knows Fleur likes you as you are."

"Allow me _some_ personality, Jax," I said, picking up a cup.

He nodded towards it. "I'll take that as a first step. The rest, I know is the fun-Austin dying to come out, but who's being squashed by some obligated bastard."

I almost choked on my beer. "Did you actually just call me an obligated bastard?"

He grinned at me. "For the love of God, Oz, have some fun, for once in your life. You can go back to being your stuffy, paradoxical self tomorrow."

"I promise nothing," I said, then drained my beer to let him know I was considering his words.

"Good, now, excuse me; I have a lady to woo."

I watched him walk over to Anne and Lily. Gemma and Kate had wandered off to seduce Lord knew who. They smiled and chatted for a few minutes, until Jax led Anne to the dance floor and Lily went and sat on a couch with a cup in hand.

I scanned the crowd, seeing Cass up against a wall with some girl I didn't recognise from the back. I huffed and leant against another wall, absent-mindedly biting on the rim of my cup.

I wasn't going to pretend not to notice the amount of girls who threw me cautiously hopeful looks. But, I kept my face stern for each one of them, knowing if I so much as hinted an interest I'd be flocked despite my reputation. I'd spent years cultivating it, always being the surly, disliked twin.

Aunt Celia had, in no uncertain terms, told me if I dated anyone, I'd be in serious trouble. And, I believed her. Not that I'd met anyone worth dating. All the girls at this school were either related to me or saw me as nothing but a means to a comfortable life. None were intelligent enough to hold my interest for long, even the few times I'd considered breaking Aunt Celia's rules.

Which is not to say I hadn't taken a girl or two to bed. But, each was strictly a one-time thing and, if they hadn't known that going in, they knew it soon after.

I drank my drinks in relative peace, watching the party go by. It was a wonder none of the adults shut these things down. I suppose, they knew if they did, they'd hear from more than one wealthy parents' lawyer.

I watched Jax and Anne dancing, trying to determine what sort of girl Anne was really. I'd found out in the last few days that she was a scholarship student who wasn't the brightest girl but kept her grades up well enough to keep her there. No doubt, her family had sent her to Netherfield in the hopes of finding her a potential mate who would give her a free ride. I didn't know what it was about Netherfield, but the scholarship students all seemed to be the same.

Jax's face was beaming with excitement every time he looked at her. I knew that look well; it was the look that usually ended once I'd explained to him the object's real intentions for him. Why, then, he thought Anne would be any different! I tried to gauge her feelings towards him, but found her expression not obviously decipherable. She seemed to be enjoying herself, but there was a hesitancy to her that made me wonder if she was actually all that interested in my brother.

After a while, they walked over to the table next to me. Anne called Lily over and Jax headed over to me while the girls talked.

"I see you're still nursing that beer." Jax nodded, picking up his own.

"I'll have you know, this is my third or fourth, thank you," I replied.

"Oh, you must be having so much fun!" Jax teased, then looked over his shoulder at Anne. He nudged me. "So, what do you think of Anne?"

"I'm sure I don't know. I haven't spoken to her."

"Well, that's hardly my fault, is it? It doesn't take much to go up to a person and say hello to them. Oh, Lord, just don't look like that when you do!" Jax shoved me and I wondered what the hell my face had looked like. "Go on, go and find yourself a pretty girl, and have a good time."

"You seem to have secured yourself the prettiest girl who hasn't had her tongue down Cass' throat."

"Oi, oi. Why don't you go talk to Lily, while I talk to Anne? Lily's a very pretty girl." We both looked over to the girls, who stood near us.

"What's that famous quote? 'She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me'?" I replied lazily, smirking.

Lily's head snapped up. Her green eyes bored into mine and I suddenly felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, complete with fading smile.

"Go back to your date, Jax. I'll only bring you down tonight, mate," I said, flexing my neck and avoiding Lily's glare.

Jax clapped me on the back. "I don't doubt it, brother. Just, try to have some fun of your own, aye?"

"You leave me to myself, Jax. Go back to your wooing." I sculled the last of my beer and held my cup out for Jax to fill it up again.

He looked at me seriously for a moment, until I nodded and waved the cup at him.

"You sure you're all right, then?"

"I will be when you stop dicking about and pour me another beer," I growled, not sure where my foul mood was coming from. Well, my fouler than usual mood.

Jax just nodded and poured it before he went back to Anne. I noticed Lily was gone, but refused to pay much attention. Instead, I watched the people in the room. Cassandra, in typical fashion, flitted her way from one girl to another, even those who had previously never showed an inclination for their own sex; but, when it came to Cassandra Morley, very few people could say no. Gemma and Kate shamelessly flung themselves at anyone who'd have them. Jax and Anne spent time dancing and talking, then Jax would apologise profusely when someone called him away for a moment. And round again we'd go.

Meanwhile, I filled up my cup again and again, and made sure no one came near me but Cass and my brother.

* * *

An annoying sound buzzed in my ears. It was the opening bars to _Don't Fear the Reaper_.

I groaned. That was my ringtone.

I opened my eyes and, for a moment, had no idea where I was. There were pink posters on the wall above my head. My ringtone played on and I felt movement beside me. I looked around and saw two blonde heads snuggled up either side of me. I also noticed I was at least naked to the waist.

 _Lord, what did I get myself into?_

"Austin, pick up the damn phone," one of the girls muttered as she rolled over.

I extricated myself as best I could and found my jeans on the floor. I pulled my phone out of the pocket and found Jax calling. I groaned again and answered.

"What?" I barked as I pulled my pants on.

I heard a chuckle on the other end of the line. "Well, I see you didn't die at least. Where the hell did you get to?"

I looked around but nothing seemed familiar, especially to my half-asleep, hungover brain. "I have no idea. Let me get dressed and I'll head back."

"How many in the bed this time?" he laughed.

"You're not as funny as you think you are, brother," I said, looking around for my t-shirt or shirt.

"How many?" he insisted.

I sighed, knowing he wouldn't let up. "Two."

"Damn, boy! You sure know how to score!" Jax laughed and I winced at the volume.

"And, how did your night go?"

"Very well thank you. I walked Anne and Lily back to their room shortly after you left." He sounded very smug.

"Lily was still there when I left?" I paused as I pulled my button up shirt on.

"I don't know what it is to you, but yes."

"Did she see me leave with…" I looked at the bed, but still couldn't tell who they were.

"I still don't know what it is to you, but yes."

"Do you know who I-"

"Didn't see their faces."

I groaned.

"Austin, get out if you won't be quiet," one of the girls mumbled, throwing a pillow at me.

I found my t-shirt, tucked it into my back pocket, pulled on my shoes and walked out of the room.

"Where are you now?" I asked into the phone.

"I was going to get some breakfast. Any idea where you are yet?"

I looked around and saw Lily coming out of a room a few doors down. I stifled yet another groan. "I suspect I'm in Longbourn."

"What the hell are you doing there?"

"Don't ask me, I was smashed off my face apparently," I snapped.

"You don't need to tell me." He laughed. "Listen, I'll be there in a bit. I was going to swing by and see if Anne wanted to come to breakfast."

I saw Anne come out of the room behind Lily. "I think she'll meet you there, mate."

"Why do you say that?"

"They've just left their room."

"Shit, can you ask her? Bring her to the dining room?"

"Do I have to?"

"I'll love you forever."

I smiled. "You're supposed to do that already."

"Yeah, well, I would, but you can be such an insufferable prig."

I laughed, which caused Lily and Anne to turn around. I didn't miss the raised eyebrow and smirk from Lily.

"Look, man, I'll ask, all right. I'll meet you at the dining hall soon."

"You are my favourite brother."

"I am your only brother." I smiled as hung up.

Lily and Anne were heading my way, which I assumed meant the dining hall was that way. I tried to smile, but the smirk on Lily's face was distracting and annoying.

"Anne. Lily." I bowed my head.

Lily looked me up and down very pointedly.


	5. Chapter 5: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

I tried my best to hide my smile, but I failed epically. "Austin."

To be honest, my amusement at his obvious predicament was the only thing keeping my mind off the amazing body he'd left on show. His dishevelled hair and unfocussed eyes gave him a very sexy look. Combine that with the jeans sitting low on his waist and his blue shirt open over a very naked chest… Well, I was very tempted to swoon.

He must have spent a lot of time in the gym or something, because the guy was a fantastic specimen of humanity. I could almost put aside my dislike of him and imagine the wicked things he could do with that body.

I laughed at the thought; he'd obviously been doing very wicked things the night before.

"Something funny?" he asked me.

I bit my lip to stop another laugh. "Only that I would have thought your pride would have made a morning after walk of shame an impossibility."

I knew I shouldn't have said it as soon as it was out of my mouth. I saw his jaw clench and he took a deep breath as though he was wishing for patience. I thought he was going to say something scathing in return. In fact, I would have welcomed it. But, he just pulled his eyes to Anne.

"Jax wanted me to ask you if you'd like to meet him for breakfast? I was just on my way there now," he said.

"Half naked?" I laughed before I could stop myself.

Anne gave me an amused look and a small shake of the head. Austin sighed and proceeded to pull his shirt off. Soon he was standing in front of us in half his naked glory and I felt the need to scoop my jaw up off the floor.

He shoved his shirt at me. "Hold this." And I took it.

He pulled a t-shirt from his back pocket and whipped it on in one smooth motion then held his hand out to me. I passed him back the shirt and he pulled it on.

"Better?" he asked.

"Not really," I said, then blushed as I realised I'd said it out loud. I cleared my throat at the hint of amusement on his face. "Now, you've just got more night-before clothes on display."

Anne hid her smile better than I had previously. "We were just heading to breakfast ourselves."

He nodded to her, shooting me an odd stare. Self-consciously, I smoothed my top, inadvertently pulling it down a little far. Which, of course, only heightened my embarrassment as I saw his eyes make a beeline for the skin it exposed.

"So, Austin, how's the essay for Missus Robbins going?" Anne asked, starting to walk away.

I sent a mental thanks for her as she led Austin's eyes from me trying to settle myself back in my clothes, since I was only making matters worse while he'd been looking. I vaguely listened to them chatter as I wandered along behind them.

As we walked into the dining hall, I saw Kate waving at me from what seemed to have become our usual table. I gave Anne a look as we stopped at a table where Jax was sitting.

Despite the fact he'd been the one to ask us, Austin sat next to his brother with a scowl, his arms folded across his very fine chest. Jax beamed up at Anne and indicated she sit down. I looked to Austin and felt that prickle of annoyance across my skin. I shifted slightly and Anne seemed to catch my mood.

"Sorry, Jax. But, I told Gemma I'd help her with some math over breakfast. Tomorrow, maybe?"

Jax, though by all accounts similar in nature to an energetic puppy, was obviously not an idiot. He looked between Austin and me with a calculated gaze. His next look to Anne seemed to communicate something. Anne gave him a small apologetic smile and a shrug.

"No worries. We'll reschedule." He smiled, though from what I'd seen of him, it seemed a bit off.

Anne took my arm and we walked over to our table. Marie was typically hidden behind a book, Charlie was on his laptop and my stepsisters were ogling us.

"Did you just walk in with Austin Cooper wearing last night's clothes?" Gemma hissed excitedly.

I jumped and looked around, hoping no one else had heard her inference, as I poured myself a coffee.

Kate was nodding so furiously I thought her head was going to drop off. "Rumour is he spent the night with two girls."

I half-spit coffee out on my plate and half-choked on it.

"I'm sorry?" I asked. "Two girls?"

Gemma joined in Kate's nod-fest. "No idea who it was. Though, when you walked in, I thought it must have been you. He's staring at you enough."

I scoffed. "He's not staring at me. Besides, he's made it abundantly clear I am not his type."

Kate sighed. "Shame. It seems nobody's his type. Not that many girls are brave enough to go near him."

Gemma giggled. "No, he's all sorts of scary. He's really got that alpha male fearsomeness to him."

"Oh, yes. I could just imagine him picking me up and-"

"Whoa!" I rolled my eyes as I grabbed some toast. "Are you two reading those racy romance books again?"

"Racy romance books?" Anne asked.

I nodded. "Remind me to show you some time. These two got hooked on them. Bloody alpha male rubbish. You want a guy like…" I thought for a moment, "Jax."

Kate snickered. "I think he's taken. But, he is the perfect alpha male, only it's like you've got to the end of the book with him already. He's all big and handsome, but he hasn't got any hang ups."

"Jesus, Kate, Jax isn't some beefed out romance novel love interest who's been healed by the power of love. He's a real person, who just happens to have won both the genetic and personality lottery."

"You really think he's a good guy?" Anne asked, smiling into her cereal.

"I have been here all of a week but I know he's a good guy, Anne. And, I think you could very well fall in love with him if you let yourself."

"That is the love cynic's official diagnosis is it?" Kate asked.

"Shut up. Just because I have no inclination to throw myself around in the hopes I find the right guy, doesn't mean I can't want my sisters and my friends to find love for themselves."

"Lily!" Gemma and Kate cried.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry. You know I love you and I didn't mean it like that. But, you have to admit, you could flirt a little less."

Kate and Gemma shared a smiled.

"Yes, but it's fun." Kate winked.

I saw Marie give us all a glower and turned to Anne as Gemma and Kate listed off all the guys they spoke to the night before and how jealous their year would be when they found out, blah blah blah.

"I still don't know why Jax would want me," Anne said.

"Oh, for God's sake Anne!" I teased. "Because, even though he seems to hang out with a bunch of popular arsehats, he's not a stuck up idiot."

"You're thinking of Austin now," she laughed.

"Austin is definitely a stuck up idiot," I said.

"A very attractive stuck up idiot," Anne pointed out.

I nodded my head. "Yes, but that hardly makes up for it."

"And there, Lily, you have stumbled upon the feelings of the whole school."

"And yet, girls go to bed with him?"

"Lily, be honest, if he suggested it, would you say no?"

An image of exactly what he could do played through my mind, making my heart rate and temperature spike. I shook my head.

"Yes, I would."

"But, you'd think about it." She smiled. I opened my mouth to argue but she shook her head. "You totally just did."

"Doesn't make him in any way decent. Just means my hormones are a little frisky," I grumbled into my coffee cup.

"You keep telling yourself that," Anne joked.

"I will. The day I have something nice to say about Austin Cooper, you can sign me into the psych ward, thank you!"

Anne giggled.

* * *

Anne and I sat in our room on Tuesday, trying to focus on our homework, when there was a knock on the door.

I exchanged a surprised glance with Anne and went to open it.

"Hi!" the tall blonde on the other side of the door said. Standing next to her was another girl, equally tall with strawberry-blonde hair. I recognised them both from Jax and Austin's table on Saturday.

"Um…hi." I smiled uncertainly.

Anne popped up behind me. "Oh, Cass, Bea, how are you?"

I looked between the girls. The blonde smiled. "Cass. This is Bea."

"Oh, okay, hi."

"It's Lily, right?" Cass asked, and I nodded slowly. "Great. So, listen, we just thought it might be cool to hang out for a while. Are you girls doing anything?"

Anne and I just looked at each other.

True, I hadn't been here long, and I wasn't sure exactly who was who here. But, these two seemed very much a part of the in-crowd, and we were very much not. Don't get me wrong, I liked it like that; we were us and I loved us, plus it didn't draw too much attention.

"Um…we were-"

"Great, we thought you might like to get a coffee or something?" Cass grabbed Anne by the arm and started walking off down the hall with her.

I just sort of looked at Bea, whose smile was very large, and nodded.

"I'll catch you up," I said.

She flounced off down the corridor behind Cass and Anne. I clicked save on both our laptops and closed the lids. I grabbed my wallet, phone, and a library book I needed to return since I was heading that way, and headed out after them.

I detoured passed the library and ran into Austin outside the returns chute.

"Oh, hi." He nodded.

"Yeah, hi," I said, throwing my book in the chute.

"Um… How are you?" he stammered.

"Fine. You?"

"Fine also."

"Good for you."

"Um, are you and Anne studying?"

"We were. Then, Anne was hijacked by people called Cass and Bea and we're going to have coffee apparently."

"Ah, yes. Cass can be a little…exuberant. She wants to get to know Anne. Lord knows we've been hearing enough about her." He all-but rolled his eyes.

"Well, yet another stellar example of how your brother decidedly won in the personality department. And, just what is wrong with Anne?" I asked, hands on hips.

He looked taken aback. "It is less of there being anything wrong with Anne and more of my brother having a tendency to follow his heart even if it leads him into a snake-infested pit."

"Wow. Comparing Anne to a snake-infested pit. Is there no level to which you will not stoop? Do you enjoy being the unapproachable twat you've made yourself into? Or is this some kind of tag-team thing? You act like an arsehat as a distinguishing feature between your ever so identically attractive forms, then Jax gets the girls because he looks even better next to you?" If I was honest, they were in no way identically attractive; as nice as Jax was, the contradiction in personality and body that was Austin was just so much sexier.

Austin blinked and I was surprised to see a hint of a smile play at his lips. "May I walk you to the coffee shop?"

"I don't see what could _tempt_ you," I replied, thinking of his words on Friday night.

His grey eyes flashed and the corner of his mouth rose slightly. "The one time I try to be nice and you would really throw it back in my face?"

My mind spluttered a bit at the very pleasing way his features aligned when he even half-smiled.

 _What are you doing?_

"Fine, I can't stop you walking somewhere," I replied and turned on my heel.

His stupidly long legs fell into an easy step next to me. We walked in silence, but there was that stupid half-smile on his face the whole way. When we got to the coffee shop, Cass looked up and was obviously surprised to see Austin there.

"Oz, how are things?" she asked.

I sat next to Anne, who was giving me a 'thank-God-you-got-here-where-have-you-been' look. I shrugged and rolled my eyes towards Austin.

"Good, Cass. I see you're making friends." He looked at me again, his eyes glinting.

"You say that like it's a bad thing. You should try it sometime!" She poked her tongue out at him.

He full-on smiled now and I was blown away by the transformation. I expected him to look like Jax when he smiled his easy smiles. But, Austin looked more like a guy who only smiled when he was truly comfortable and truly happy.

"Perhaps I should, Cass. You play nice." He pointed a figure at her and she winked. He bowed his head to Anne and me, and left.

Coffee found its way in front of me and I was eternally grateful.

The four of us made polite conversation on all manner of topics until Cass started asking us a lot of questions about our families and where we were from.

"Marie and I both won scholarships for Year 7," Anne said. "My Granddad was Michael Macklin."

"The big business man?" Cass asked, stunned.

Anne nodded as she sipped her coffee. "Yes. The one who lost all his money and power," she said as though she'd heard it a million times, and none of them sympathetic.

"I'm sure that was very hard for your family," I said, taking her hand.

Anne shrugged. "Marie and I only really saw the fallout. Mum took it hard."

"And, you Lily?" Cass turned to me.

"Me? Um…well, my mum was Australian, Dad English. I was born, Dad found himself a new wife when I was about ten. Along with her came Gemma and Kate. I stayed in Australia until Mum died and Dad sent me here."

"So, your dad _is_ Daniel Brewer?"

I nodded, like that should mean something to me, other than that he was the instigator of my distrust of a man's love and all-around terrible father.

Cass looked between us thoughtfully. "Well, fascinating."

"We're…uh…sorry about your mum," Bea offered in the most insincere manner possible.

"Thanks."

I looked at my cup and shot a look at Anne.

"We should really go. Big test tomorrow, you know," Anne said standing up. I followed her cue.

"Yes, was great hanging out, girls." I forced a smile.

"Pleasure was ours. We should do it again sometime," Cass said. Her smile was bright enough, but her eyes were calculating.

I took Anne's arm and hurried her away.


	6. Chapter 6: Austin

**Austin**

* * *

"She insulted you, again?" Jax asked.

I nodded, sprawled on my bed. "Yep, right to my face."

"And that is the cause of this ridiculous smirk you're wearing?"

"My what, now?"

"Oh for God's sake, Oz. I look at you and I could actually be looking in the mirror for once… Oh, shit. Speaking of, do you need to cut your hair before we go home?"

"Don't bring my mood down." I reached for my guitar and plucked some strings.

Jax barked a laugh. "I wouldn't dream of it. I don't remember the last time your mood was actually high enough to be in jeopardy of coming down."

I laughed. "No, you're right. It's a singular feeling."

"So, remind me again why Lily insulting you for what seems to be the fourth time this week alone has put you in a good mood?"

"Because, Jax," I said, sitting up, "who was the last girl that insulted me? Huh? Other than Cassandra?"

Jax shook his head, thinking. "Other than Cass? I can't think of anyone."

"Exactly," I replied, flopping back down again.

And, it was true; every person at Netherfield thought me a haughty arsehole with nothing but contempt for the lot of them. And, truthfully, I was fine with that. It made my life easier, not having to worry about who wanted to be my friend because we had money, or who actually like me for me – which, actually, would have meant them _knowing_ the real me… But, whatever.

But, even with my poor reputation, no girl had ever openly insulted me, and certainly not more than once. If I talked to anyone but Cass, they either avoided me or tried flirting with me as though they'd suddenly forgotten I wasn't Jax.

Lily, though, did neither of those things. She spoke to me like an actual person. A person she didn't like, true. But, that only caused her green eyes to flare beautifully every time she told me exactly what she thought of me.

"You know you're humming?" Jax laughed.

I blinked and realised I was indeed humming while strumming. _Poetry now?_ I didn't want to dwell on that with Jax though. He was already reading too much into my brighter mood.

"You know, Cassandra and Beatrice are spending time with Anne and Lily?" I replied.

"What?"

"Yep, they went for coffee again this morning."

"Cass, Bea… Anne and Lily? Without us?" Jax asked as though he couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Don't know. Cass said she was making friends."

"I hope she's playing nice."

"I warned her."

Jax laughed and I joined him; we knew exactly what our cousin could be like.

"How many times have they hung out?"

"Don't know exactly. I saw them on Tuesday. So, at least twice," I replied.

"But, it could be more than twice?"

"It could be six times a day for all I know."

"Is there anything happening tonight?" Jax asked suddenly.

"Sorry?" I sat up again.

"Is there anything on tonight?"

I blinked, thinking through what could possibly be on. The term had finished the day before, so a bunch of kids would have left, leaving behind those of us who were putting off going home until the last minute – Jax and I would be at Netherfield for another day or two at least.

"I don't think so, no. Why?"

"Shall we ask Anne and Lily to hang out?"

I wanted to tell him he could sod off. We'd been spending hours each day with Anne and Lily and, as much as I seemed to acquire some stupid smile afterwards, I wasn't sure I could handle many more of Lily's glares or slights. It was all very well for Jax, who seemed to be getting along with Anne just fine, and Cass and Bea who had befriended the girls. Me, on the other hand, I was suddenly finding myself the butt of jokes and trying not to lose my cool lest I find myself further teased.

"Do we have to?" I asked slowly.

"You've been grinning like an idiot since she first insulted you and now you don't want to hang out with her?" Jax asked.

"It's complicated," I mumbled, getting up and pulling off my shirt.

"It's not complicated, you're being a snob."

I sighed. I did not want to have this conversation with my twin, especially not if he wanted to go and hang out with them now. I stretched my neck and pretended I hadn't heard him while I looked for another shirt to change into.

"Oz, don't do that. I know you heard me."

"Just give it a rest, mate," I replied softly, slipping on a jumper and pulling up my sleeves. "Let's go and see if they want to do something tonight, yeah?"

 _The things I do for my brother…_

Jax didn't say anything for a while, so I finally turned around to look at him. He had his arms crossed and he watched me with narrowed eyes.

"Dude. What now?" I asked, mirroring his stance. "Do you want to go and see if your lady love wants to hang out? Or, do you want to fight with your snob of a brother?"

Slowly, Jax smiled. "All right, we'll discuss it later. Let's go and see if Anne wants to do anything."

We left our room and headed for the Longbourn wing.

"Fine, as long as the Brewers aren't there." I shoved my hands in my pockets.

"Lily will be there, I assume." He grinned.

I sighed. "You know who I mean, Jax. If I have to sit through Gemma's and Kate's hyena guffaws for one more afternoon, I might kill myself."

"Just get another tattoo, Aunt Celia will do the job for you."

I laughed. "Yeah, true. But, I'm out of ideas for now."

A while later, he snickered. "How about a nice flower? I can think of- Oof!" Jax breathed out heavily as I thumped him, then he laughed. "You have no idea what I was going to say!"

"I know exactly what you were going to say and you can shut it."

"The bare patch above your heart reserved for Petal?" he asked, making kissy noises.

"I will thump you again if I have to," I said as we stopped outside Anne and Lily's room, and knocked.

By now, Jax was too far gone with laughter. "You could get a fleur-de-lis! That would be very fitting. She'd totally love-"

I grabbed him in a headlock. "Are you sure you want to continue that sentence, brother?" I growled, but I smiled at the idiot grin on his face.

"Okay, okay. No fleur-de-lis and no- Lily!"

"That's right. I'll fill it one day, but-" It was my turn to breathe out heavily as he elbowed me in the side.

"Lily, hi," I heard Jax say.

I looked up, with Jax still in a headlock, and found Lily at the door, watching us with a bemused expression on her face. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun; my fingers itched to brush the wayward strands from her neck. She had a pen in her smiling lips, wore a short floral dress and pink sneakers, and held an open book in her hand.

"By all means, don't let me interrupt whatever brotherly incident is occurring here," she laughed, opening the door wider.

"Who is it, Lil?" Anne asked.

"Um…it could be entertainment, come to alleviate our study boredom. Did you order anyone from the MMA league?"

I dropped Jax quickly. Which turned out to be more literal than I'd intended when I had to grab him to stop him falling over.

"Lily, nice to see you. You look lovely," Jax said, finally finding his feet.

"Thanks, Jax. Anne's inside." Lily nodded her head and stepped aside. Jax rushed in like a child to a tree on Christmas morning. "Austin."

"Lily." I cleared my throat and raked my hair out of my face. "Sorry about that."

"Nonsense, it's not every day I see you looking like a normal human being," she laughed. "I expect I don't want to know what's being filled one day?"

The hint of suggestion in her tone made me smile despite myself. "Nothing important, Jax was just overstepping his bounds."

"I wouldn't have thought twins had boundaries," she said, cocking her head to the side.

"There aren't many, but-"

"Jax manages to cross each and every one?" she smiled.

I nodded. "You sound like you grew up with one of your own."

"A Jax, or a twin?" she replied, but continued before I could answer. "No, it was just Mum and me at home. Dad, Claire and the step-mongrels were always a world away."

"You say that like you dislike them?" I asked, taken off guard by her comment.

She laughed. "I love them, but they're sisters. You can't but love to hate them."

I looked to where Jax and Anne were chatting animatedly. Well, Jax was chatting animatedly, Anne looked like she'd just been cornered by a rambunctious man-child. Which, I supposed, wasn't too far from the truth.

"And Anne?"

"What about her? I don't know much about her sister, but she seems a very…intense girl," Lily replied, following my gaze.

"No, I mean how do you feel about Anne?"

"Oh! Of all the sisters I might have been stuck with in life, she's the one I can't find fault with. I feel like I've known her forever."

I raised an eyebrow at her, but was spared reply when Jax and Anne came over to us.

"Right, we're raiding the party stash and it's drinks in Charlie's tonight."

"What party stash and who's Charlie?" I asked.

"Williams' party stash and friend of Anne's and Lily's. I said we'd bring Cass." Jax beamed.

Now I knew exactly what he had planned for the night.

For the millionth time that week, I wanted to tell him to sod off. Sitting around drinking was the last thing I wanted to be doing, and the last thing Cassandra should be doing. Still, faced with the looks on the faces around me, I did little more than sigh, roll my eyes and nod.

"Fine, but I'm not telling Williams we stole his good booze."

* * *

Later that night, the nine of us were sitting around Charlie's dorm room. Turns out, Williams hadn't left yet and was more than happy to bring his best booze when he heard the Brewers were going to be there – _sigh_. And, Charlie's roommate had left for the holidays already.

We'd all probably had too much to drink, but we'd seemed to lose track of ourselves as we sat and talked, or told jokes. Lily was still wearing her short floral dress and she looked beautiful. In fact, I thought she looked more beautiful than she had earlier that day. Although, that could have been the whiskey talking.

 _Ha! Whiskey doesn't talk!_

I'd barely been able to take my eyes off her, or been able to stop listening to her. I couldn't quite be sure, but I think there were even a couple of times we had a proper non-insult-trading conversation. I was quite pleased by our progress. By now, I knew she liked books, she was intelligent, she was nothing like her younger sisters, and she was very pretty. She was still her father's daughter, though…

"Oz?" Cass hissed as she nudged me. "Oz, you're staring and your smile is a little creepy…"

I blinked. "Sorry, what?"

Kate squealed, interrupting my train of thought, and picked up one of the empty bottles. "Who's up for spin the bottle?"

Gemma laughed along with her.

Lily groaned. "What are we, in the nineties?" I heard her mutter.

In my slightly drunken state, I giggled a little.

"Go on, I'll play!" Williams laughed.

"Why not?" Jax said.

"Because, it's a game for tweens!" I replied.

"Oh, come on, Oz, live a little. I'll play too," Cass said, knocking back another shot then shuffling so we were all sitting in a circle.

"Fine, what are the rules?" I huffed, crossing my legs on the floor.

"Rules?" Lily smiled at us all. "You have rules on this side of the world?"

Cass laughed. "You don't?"

"No. You spin the bottle, whoever it points to, you have to kiss." She shrugged.

Cass whooped. "Well, as much fun as that sounds. At Netherfield, we do things slightly differently. You spin it and, when it stops, you either decide to kiss them _or_ you do five shots."

Lily nodded. "Okay, that I can work with."

"Good, right who's first?"

"Me!" Williams yelled, lunging forward and sending the bottle spinning.

It landed on Gemma and they shared a not so chaste kiss before pulling apart and it was Gemma's turn. Gemma landed on Cass, who grinned and waited to see if Gemma was going to go ahead with it. Gemma smiled, threw back her drink and gave Cass a kiss.

Cass' spin landed on Lily. For a moment, Lily looked panicked. Then, she merely shrugged. Cass winked at me as she pulled Lily to her feet. Lily giggled and put her arms around Cass' shoulders to steady herself. Looking at me very deliberately, Cass very tenderly brought Lily to her and kissed her hard. I shifted uncomfortably while I watched her.

I am well aware about the whole guys getting off on two girls thing, but when one of them is your cousin and the other is a girl you think you fancy – there I said it! – then the whole sexiness of the situation is somewhat diminished.

Cass ran her hands down Lily's side, gave her a gentle slap on the bottom and let her go. Lily pulled away, flushed and laughing.

"Right, well, tick that one off the bucket list!" Lily said, smoothing her hair.

"You can tick it again any time you like." Cass winked at her. "That was amazing."

I was well aware Cass was trying to get a rise out of me, and I ignored her fastidiously.

We went round the group a number of times. Charlie passed up kissing the boys and I could guess why that was. Gemma and Kate seemed quite content to kiss anyone. Jax and Anne shared a kiss that threatened to get very heated before we pulled them apart with a laugh. Cass kissed everyone but me and Jax. Williams would probably have kissed a frog if we passed it to him and not remember the next morning. Lily had kissed Cass, Charlie, Williams and given Jax a kiss on the cheek. I'd so far kissed Gemma twice as fleetingly as possible, Anne, and even Williams launched himself on me at one point, throwing us both backwards with a laugh.

Finally, Lily's spin landed on me. I felt my heart begin to race and I couldn't have told you if I wanted her to take it or not. She'd taken the shots in lieu of kissing Jax properly and the time it landed on Kate. So, she was possibly fairly drunk already. I didn't think I wanted our first kiss to be something she didn't remember.

 _What are you talking about, first kiss? Who says you even get a first kiss?_

I looked into Lily's eyes and I didn't know what I found there. She blinked, laughed and cried, "shots! Get me shots!"

Cass poured them out for her, laughing. "Is our Austin not good enough for those delicious lips?"

"Yeah, go on Lily, kiss him!" Williams said.

"Go on, Lil!" Anne said, uncharacteristically vocal.

"Do it!" Even Charlie had an opinion for once.

I waited patiently to see if she'd change her mind.

Lily cast me a glance, smile plastered on her face. "I'm afraid, as gorgeous as Austin is, he is one boy I will never kiss!"

I hid the tinge of disappointment behind a smile. Cass opened her mouth to say something but I stopped her. "Leave her be. She doesn't have to kiss me. Although, she's missing out."

 _It seems Anne isn't the only one being slightly uncharacteristic tonight_ , I thought as I winked at her.

She took her shots and got distracted talking to Anne. Cass plonked down next to me and, very obviously, looked between me and Lily.

"Why, I do declare, cousin. You have a crush." She elbowed me and I nearly lost my balance.

Only extreme drunkenness could be responsible for what came out of my mouth in response, "Lily Brewer's pretty green eyes may well be the object of my admiration."


	7. Chapter 7: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

Austin, Jax and Cass had left for a short trip home, and Anne and I were trying to bury ourselves in homework.

It had been eleven days since the spin the bottle episode and, as drunk as I'd been, I still remembered the totally obvious way I'd refused to kiss Austin. Anne, though had lucked out when Jax had walked us back to our room and she'd apparently been given a very passionate kiss goodnight.

"Stop thinking about it!" Anne laughed.

"I'm not thinking about anything," I totally lied.

"Who are you trying to convince?"

"Ugh. The guy is insufferable!" I threw down my pen. "Have you seen the way he looks at us? Like we may as well be bugs on the sole of his shoe!"

"It's not that bad."

"You telling me it's a new thing? Or have you just stopped noticing it now you have another gorgeous face staring at you?" I teased.

"He doesn't stare at me." She blushed.

"He most certainly does."

"Who stares at who?" I heard Kate ask.

I turned around and found my sisters in the doorway, wearing rather revealing outfits. "And, what are you two wearing while you're not knocking on people's doors?"

Kate and Gemma giggled. "The exchange boys have just arrived."

"The who with the what now?" I asked, looking at Anne.

"The Military College and the Netherfield boys have some intercollegiate sport competition going on from next week," Anne answered, grabbing a handful of chips.

"So, the Military College boys have arrived, yes?"

"Yes!" both Kate and Gemma squealed, clutching each other in their excitement.

"And they're very attractive, young men?" I guessed.

"YES!" Another excited squeal, this one almost something only dogs could hear. I winced and rubbed my ear.

"Jesus, all right then." I looked at Anne, who wore a small smile.

"Come on, come on, they've just arrived! We can watch them get out of the buses!" Gemma said as she grabbed my arm.

"Did you hear that, Anne? They're getting out of the buses! We wouldn't want to miss that!" I rolled my eyes as I finally let Gemma pull me to my feet.

"Oh, no, she can't go like that! Get dressed, Lil!"

I looked down at my tracksuit pants and jumper. "I am dressed. It's not like I'm in my negligée."

"More's the pity, the boys might have liked that," Kate said, winking. "Get changed, girls!"

"It's freezing out there. Are you seriously telling me you're going out in that?" I nodded at their short skirts and cleavage-showing tops.

"Yes, and you would too if you know what's good for you!"

"Gemma, I am not going into near snow in nothing more than what's fit for an Australian beach at Christmas."

"But, Lily-"

"Don't 'but Lily', me. You want us to go and see these boys, I'm going as is."

Gemma and Kate exchanged a glance and shrugged, then looked back to me and nodded in resignation.

"Fine, but don't blame us when none of them look twice at you," Kate said in a huff.

"I can assure you, Katherine, I will not care."

Anne and I linked arms and we followed Gemma and Kate to the front driveway where four buses were parked.

I could well believe these boys were from a Military College in their long jackets, hats and uniform pants. They had a very Captain Jack Harkness look about them. I couldn't distinguish teachers from students; they all looked the same. A tall, wide-shouldered guy strolled towards us.

As he got closer, he pulled off his hat and I started to wish I'd decided to change after all. He was all sorts of blond, blue-eyed perfection. He bowed to us before putting his hat back on.

"It's bloody cold for this time of year." He smiled. He had a very distinct Australian accent.

"Thank God, there's someone else in this country from my side of the world," I laughed.

"Oh, hey, yeah!" He held out a hand. "Liam Anders."

"Lily Brewer. This is Anne, Gemma and Kate."

Liam nodded to them, but his eyes were focussed on me and I felt the sudden urge to blush. "What part of Australia you from?"

"Adelaide."

"Ah, I'm a Melbourne boy myself. Well, Southern Vic. Grew up in Torquay."

"I've been there, it's nice."

"Well, small world. We should get together over coffee sometime and reminisce about home. We can imagine we're there, where the weather's getting warmer instead of colder." He winked.

"That'd be great, yeah."

There was a crash and a yell, and Liam looked over his shoulder. "Sorry, ladies, I'd best see what the fuss is all about. Nice to meet you."

"You too," Kate sighed, waving him off.

"Well, he seemed nice," Anne said.

"I'll bet you're regretting not changing now, Lil," Gemma laughed.

"Why would she? He barely looked at her. Us blonds are drawn together," Kate said.

"You know, you guys are turning a little blue…" I said, pointing at them.

"Nonsense," Kate said, waving my hand away, "we're fine."

We watched them unpacking their buses – oh, it was super thrilling, I promise; there was nowhere else I'd rather be – while Gemma and Kate sighed over practically every boy they saw. Finally, Mr Bembly came out and shooed us inside with a very distasteful look. But, Anne and I still had to hear all about the events we'd just witnessed.

* * *

I'd managed to keep my scantily clad sisters in our room for the rest of the afternoon, playing games and even going along with the rating of all the eligible boys in the school – ugh.

"What you really want is a guy from Rosings Dorm," Kate said.

"Which one's that?"

"The rich kids, people like Jax and Austin," Gemma said, putting down another card.

"And, why do I want one of these?" I asked.

"A Rosings boy will set you up for life," Anne replied, though I could hear the disgust in her tone.

"Daniel says it all the time," Kate said, nodding.

"As does my mother." Anne grimaced.

"You go to this school to get a Rosings boy. It's just how it is," Gemma replied.

I looked between them all. "Are you guys shitting me right now?"

All three heads turned my way. Anne – thankfully – looked like she agreed with me. Kate and Gemma, however, just shrugged.

"My dad told you to find yourself a Rosings boy and settle down?"

Kate looked at me as though it was the most sound investment advice. "He found himself a Rosings girl, although not at school. We'll probably have to, since the company passes through our cousin when Mum steps down as CEO."

"What cousin?" I asked. This was news to me; I'd assumed Claire's investment company was going to Gemma as her biological daughter.

"Sebastian." Gemma shuddered.

"What's wrong with Sebastian?" I asked, betting the first thing out of her mouth was going to be that he wasn't hot enough.

Kate winced. "Think of Austin, only ugly and no charm."

Okay, that was actually worse than I thought it was going to be. "A stuck up snob with neither charm nor looks?" I clarified.

They both nodded.

"He seriously lacks either, but he tries it all the same." Gemma wrinkled her nose.

Even knowing how shallow the two girls could be, I was inclined to believe them on this occasion. They were quick to judge a guy attractive on his ability to charm as readily as on the set of his features.

"Anyway, back to more exciting things. I've heard the boys from the Military College are all quite well off"

"What are they doing at a Military College, then?" I asked.

Kate looked around as though she were about to divulge some great conspiracy. "I heard they're all the sons of wealthy parents who have misbehaved one too many times."

I rolled my eyes. Just what we needed; bad boys with money my sisters could swoon over. "And, you think if you can't find yourself a Rosings boy, you'll take the next best thing and run off with a boy from Military College?"

Kate and Gemma actually tittered.

"Dear God, and what do you think of this, Anne?"

Anne shifted uncomfortably in her beanbag. "My mum is just the same as your dad, by the sound of it. She made us study like you wouldn't believe so we won scholarships to Netherfield and could secure ourselves rich husbands… But, I hate it. Besides, no one ever noticed me until Jax-"

"And, he's one of the richest guys here!" Kate squealed. "It's so unfair!"

I looked around at them as though they'd lost their minds.

"I'm surprised Dad hasn't given you the talk, Lil," Gemma said.

"What talk?"

"The one where he tells you that you need to find a nice rich boy."

"Are you serious?" I asked. "He really expects me to just find a rich boyfriend to eventually marry… Like it's that easy? What are we? Living in the Regency?" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, Anne seems to have lucked out. She found a rich boy to fancy her." Kate pointed.

"I'm sure he's not serious. He's a good guy, but he'll want someone...more like him."

More like him? What were this lot on about? I felt like I'd gone down the rabbit hole to another time. Could women not do anything on their own anymore? Not that I was a radical feminist or anything… It was all just so…old-fashioned.

"Anne, you are a perfectly good person and well good enough for the likes of the Coopers! Jax is as sincere as they come; you have nothing to worry about from him!" I said through gritted teeth. "And, you can tell _Daniel_ that I am not just going to throw myself at any Rosings boys in the hopes I stick to one of them."

"But, don't you want a comfortable future, Lil?" Kate asked and I was actually a little depressed by the seriousness in her face.

"I don't need a rich Rosings boy to have a comfortable future. If I'm going to marry anyone, it'll be someone I'm head over heels in love with, and who feels the same about me."

My phone rang and I saw the step-monster's name on the screen. No, that wasn't fair. I wished she _was_ a step-monster. Then, I wouldn't feel so guilty about loving her the way I did and feel like I was just stomping all over Mum's memory.

I popped out into the hall so the others could keep talking. "Hey Claire, how are you?"

"Good, Lily. How about you? Settling in okay? The girls aren't giving you too much trouble?" I could hear her wry tone.

I laughed. "No, they're all right. Although, a shipment of Military College boys arrived today and, there Gem and Katie were, standing in miniskirts and halter tops, drinking it all in."

I heard Claire sigh. "They will be the death of me, Lil, I swear. At least I have one sensible daughter! Honestly, those two are the most ridiculous flirts in the whole world. I sometimes wonder if they have a brain between them. Where does it come from?"

We both paused a moment, then said in unison, "Daniel," and laughed.

"Ah, your father's got a good heart, hun, he's just a little…"

"Money hungry?" I asked.

"He wants the best for his girls."

"Are you saying you don't?" I laughed so she knew I was teasing.

I heard her laugh. "I'd rather you all be happy and poor, than rich and unhappy, hun. You know that."

"I do, and I love you for it."

I heard someone speaking to her on the other end. "Yep. Sorry, Lil, I'm going to have to cut this short."

"No worries. I'll try to keep the girls under control while the Military College boys are here."

Claire sighed. "It shouldn't be your job to look after them, Lil. But, they won't listen to me or your father."

"They barely listen to me, but I'll do my best."

"Thanks, hun. Love you."

"Love you, too," I replied and hung up.

I checked the time on my phone. The dining hall would be open now and my stomach growled. I headed back into the room.

"What did Mum want?" Kate asked.

"Just checking in. Shall we head down to dinner?"

Anne smiled and nodded, getting up.

"Can you at least get changed first, Lil? Please?"

I looked them over. "I'll do you a deal. You cover up a little and I'll change. I'll meet you halfway."

Gemma and Kate exchanged a glance, both rolling their eyes. They looked at me and nodded. "Fine."

"Good, you go get changed. We'll meet you at your room and go from there."

* * *

Half an hour later, we walked into the dining hall.

Just as we did, Anne got a message.

"It's from Cass," she said, frowning.

"What'd she say?" I asked as we headed to our table, only there was Liam and some other boys with four empty chairs at the end.

"She's asked me to go to out for lunch in London on Wednesday."

"That's tomorrow."

She blinked. "It is, too."

I raised an eyebrow. "You going to go?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I'll work it out later."

We stopped at our table and Liam caught my eye. "These seats taken?" I asked.

He beamed at me. "Not at all." He patted the seat next to him and Kate sat in it faster than I could even smile in response. Liam and I shared a knowing look.

"So, what's an Aussie doing at Military College in England?" I asked him as I sat across from Kate.

"I could ask what an Aussie is doing at Netherfield," he teased, his blue eyes alight with laughter.

"What sport do you play, Liam?" Kate asked, leaning over and thrusting out her ample chest.

I rolled my eyes at Liam, who winked at me and turned to Kate.

Kate fawned over Liam and his friends the whole way through dinner, with Gemma doing her best to keep up. Anne and I just watched, totally awestruck by their behaviour. Liam shared a few glances with me, and I read a very obvious 'are they for real?' look on his face. Not that either of my sisters seemed to notice, or Liam seemed to mind too much.

Anne and I talked a bit to a guy next to me, called Dane, who seemed nice and kept looking at Gemma. He didn't say much about themselves, instead talking about a few of the sports line-ups – they were entirely lost on me – and asking us about ourselves.

When we'd finished, I tried to get Kate or Gemma's attention, but they were entirely engrossed in Liam and Dane. I shrugged, linking my arm with Anne as we started to leave.

"Lily!" I heard a voice call and saw Liam striding towards us.

"Hey." I smiled.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get a coffee tomorrow?" he asked.

I ignored Anne's nudge. "Sure, sounds great."

"Shall I pull past your dorm? Say about eleven?"

I nodded. "Okay, I'm in Longbourn, room thirty-nine."

He bowed. "I'll see you there, then."

"See you, then." I bit my lip to hide a very excited smile.

Anne and I hurried back to our room, trying to stifle the giggles I felt were going to erupt.


	8. Chapter 8:Austin

**Austin**

* * *

Cassandra had decided it would be a great idea to invite Anne for lunch. Naturally, then, Anne had got food poisoning, spent the night, and was currently violently throwing up in one of our guest rooms while Lily was on her way over.

We were at our aunt's place in London, and she was thankfully nowhere to be seen. Neither, for the moment, was Fleur… Although, I expected she was going to turn up at some point; she usually did at the worst possible times.

"The place has a great reputation, how was I supposed to know?" Cass asked as Jax paced. "You can believe I'll be giving them a terrible review."

"Do you think she's okay?" Jax asked, his brow furrowed.

"She's unlikely to die from food poisoning, brother," I said, returning to my book.

"She's been throwing up since they got back yesterday."

"Yes, but only if she eats anything," I replied testily.

"She has to eat to live, Oz."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure she'll recover, and then she can go back to school and it will all be fine."

"God, what the hell has you in such a mood today, Oz?" Jax asked, finally sitting down.

I ignored him, but I could feel his eyes boring into me.

"Leave him be, Jax," Cass laughed. "You know what he's like."

"I will not, he's being even more of an insufferable prat than usual."

"One of us has to be an insufferable prat, brother. It's what lets the other one do what he likes. Or shall I be the happy-go-lucky twin and you can be the heir Aunt Celia dreams of?" I snapped.

It wasn't fair to Jax, I knew that. But, sometimes it irked me that I'd wordlessly decided to be the one who followed all Aunt Celia's stupid rules and acted the way she deemed appropriate. Most of the time, I was happy to sacrifice whoever else I may have been so Jax could do what he wanted. But, for the last couple of weeks, it had niggled at me, and I wasn't sure why. All I knew was that I was snapping a lot more at my twin recently, and, as much as I couldn't stop it, it didn't sit well with me. We rarely fought, and even more rarely fought over nothing.

"You? The one she dreams of? Minus the tattoos and hair, maybe." Cass grinned.

I sighed. The tattoos Aunt Celia rarely saw as I made sure to cover them up whenever we saw her; I don't think she knew just how many I had. The hair though, that was something she complained about frequently. I was sure my aunt only condoned it because Fleur went on about how she thought it made me more handsome. Comments like that made me want to cut it, but that would have appeased Aunt Celia too much.

"Am I not allowed some personality, Cassandra?" I asked. "It's still better than the way he gallivants around."

"Gallivant? I don't gallivant!"

"You sort of do-" Cass started.

"Not helping, cousin!" Jax pointed at her, then turned back to me. "What's put you in this ridiculous grump, Oz?"

The door burst open and I was saved answering by the very thing that had me in such a ridiculous grump. I flew out of my seat. Lily stood in the doorway, looking like a drowned rat. Albeit a very adorably angry drowned rat; her eyes flashed in annoyance as she looked around the room.

"Lord, what happened to you?" Cassandra cried.

Lily scowled. "A very kind car drove through a puddle as I was waiting for my second bus. Suffice to say, the driver was not pleased I was dripping all the way through his precious vehicle."

"You caught _two_ buses to get here?"

Lily glowered at Cass, but I didn't think my cousin noticed. "How else was I supposed to get here? Fly? Where's Anne?"

"She's upstairs. Fourth door on the right," Jax said.

"Of course, because you probably have a thousand doors," she muttered, then caught the look on Jax's face. "Sorry, Jax, I'm just tired and cold."

Jax smiled. "It's fine. There should be some spare things in with Anne, get changed and warm up."

She nodded and I realised she'd avoided looking at me. "Thanks."

She turned on her heel and strode away. I sat down and went back to my book as Jax started pacing again.

"God, that was unfortunate." Cass winced.

"She can hardly help it," Jax answered.

"She looked like she'd jumped in the lake."

"Oh, she looked fine!"

Cass laughed. "What do you think, Oz? Are you attracted to the drowned rat look? Or are you finding her pretty green eyes less admirable?"

I smirked at my page. "On the contrary; her pretty green eyes are only brighter when she's angry."

"Don't let Petal hear you saying that," Cass said, then paused. "You know, I was talking to them the other week, Anne and Lily…"

"I know you were," I replied, flicking the page.

"You do know Daniel Brewer is a Rosings groupie? And Linda Macklin isn't any better."

"That doesn't mean Lily or Anne are," Jax commented.

I huffed. "You honestly think that, when every other girl…hell, even the boys, of Longbourn and Meryton are? They, like the rest of them, are looking for only one thing; Rosings' money. Made all the more worse by the fact we all know they're doing it."

Cass nodded. "The kids in Rosing know the kids from Longbourn aren't worth much more than a shag."

I winced. "Bloody hell, Cass. Do you need to be so vulgar?"

"You know it's true. Who was the last person in this room to wake up with not one, but two Longbourn girls? You even remember who they were?"

I ignored her and went back to my book.

"By your silence, I will assume not and you've only proven my point." Cass sighed, "God, can't we do anything more exciting?"

"I can put a game on?" Jax replied, finally standing still.

"Anything is better than just sitting here."

We played for a while and I stewed on what Cassandra had said about Longbourn kids. To a degree, she wasn't wrong; it was most definitely common knowledge that parents sent their children to Netherfield in the hopes of securing a wealthy husband. I felt like we were all living in a Jane Austen novel the way people went about it. As I'd said to Jax on far too many occasions; why parents felt the need to force us into finding our marriage partners before we'd even finished school was beyond me.

Still, even suspecting that Daniel Brewer was no different to every other parent of a Longbourn child, it didn't stop me thinking about Lily in a very inappropriate capacity. Which also led me to think about Jax and Anne. I still wasn't sure what was going on there; Jax seemed enamoured, where Anne just seemed like she was going through the motions. I really wasn't looking forward to having to pick up the pieces of my overly-trusting brother's broken heart when I convinced him she was just after the money. I decided it was better to reserve judgment for now, though.

Eventually, Lily walked back into the room. Her hair was braided and she wore what I was sure were my jumper and tracksuit pants, the pull cord cinched at her waist. I tried to focus on the fact that Jax had yet again not known whose clothes were whose, instead of wondering what my clothes would smell like after Lily took them off. Which, of course, led me to thinking about her when she did take them off.

 _Get a grip!_

"How is she?" Jax asked.

Lily sighed heavily and sat on a couch to the side of us. "Asleep. I told her to stop forcing food and let her stomach rest. She's trying to get some sleep and told me to stop staring at her like I thought she was going to burst into flames."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Jax. Just relax," Cass said. "Do you want to play with us, Lily?"

She looked over at the screen and her nose wrinkled in a way that made my stomach clench weirdly. "Thanks, no. I'm seriously awful at those games. Give me a computer and I'm good, but I just mash keypads with them." She mimicked holding a controller, her thumbs moving rapidly, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth. "Although, makes me not too terrible at things like _Tekken_ ," she laughed.

"We can teach you?" Jax smiled and held out a controller.

"Thanks, I'm right with my book," she replied, holding it up. "Besides, I'm more of a zombie-killer myself." She winked at Jax and I was taken aback. I hadn't guessed that would be her sort of thing.

"You prefer...?" Cass started, her eyebrow raised.

"Totally love it, if I'm honest. Nothing like a good hack and slash," she wielded an imaginary sword, "to burn through frustration. I find it much more useful than a stress-ball."

"And, in real life?"

Lily laughed. "I'm pretty useless at things in real life."

"So you're not into sports, then? Music? Art?"

She laughed again. "Sport, I'm all arms and legs. Music, I can't hold a tune. And I'm as artistic as a block of wood."

"Oh, I don't know, a block of wood could be very artistic." Cass turned to me. "Amanda could do amazing things with a block of wood, couldn't she, Oz?"

"Amanda?" Lily asked.

I nodded, looking at her momentarily. "Amanda was my father's ward. He adopted her when she was about five. She grew up a sister to us, didn't she Jax?"

"Yep, Manda's great at everything. It's bloody annoying," he said, grumbling. I knew he was still pissed at me for snapping at him before.

"There's nothing wrong with being accomplished, Jax," Cass replied.

Jax huffed. "Accomplished? More like over-achiever."

"Accomplished is as good a word as any. But, she's a genius, plain and simple," I replied.

"Accomplished _and_ a genius, that's a hell of a compliment coming from you," Lily said. "What, in your mind, marks accomplishment and genius, Austin?"

"Intelligence; she scores high on every test she's ever taken and her IQ's off the charts. She's musical, sporty, down-to-earth, kind, funny, beautiful..." I petered off at the smirk she was giving me. "What?"

"Is she a real woman, or just a fantasy?"

The way she said 'fantasy' brought to my mind a flurry of images which had no right to be there. All of them involved Lily, and very few involved our clothes. I cleared my throat, trying not to think about it.

"Oh, she's real all right," Cass replied wistfully. "Pure perfection in the eyes of the male population."

"Really? Well, she sounds like one in a million, then," Lily said. She didn't look like she believed us.

"Not really, I know a half a dozen or so women the same," I said. Though with the previous images of Lily in my head, I wouldn't have been able to name any had she asked. Thankfully, she didn't.

Lily scoffed. "I highly doubt that, I don't think I could name one! I'd be lucky to know any with _two_ of those attributes."

I looked up at her again. "Are you so quick to dismiss your own gender?"

"I'd call it being realistic, Austin," she said, staring me down. "Women are as much people as men are, and I certainly wouldn't find a man like that outside a romance novel! In fact, if anyone tried to tell me there was a man like that in real life, I'd suggest he were overcompensating for something."

"And here I was going to suggest Austin was such a man!" Jax grinned at me and I glared at him. Jax winked.

"Well, I'd certainly ask you if he's overcompensating for something, but I feel that would only serve to make him grumpier than he already is," Lily chuckled.

I saw the challenge in her eyes, but couldn't bring myself to meet it. With Cassandra and my aunt the only two women who had ever said anything remotely unflattering to me, I still wasn't sure how to proceed with Lily. She insulted me with as quick a wit as my aunt, though without real intended belittlement. And, she teased me with Cassandra's readiness, with her face alight with endearing humour.

"I don't think you could, Lily," Cass laughed. "He's already in as foul a mood as any I've seen."

"Then, I won't dare suggest you'd ever need to overcompensate for anything, Austin," she said and bit her lip as she tried to hide her smile.

I hid a groan at the sight, telling myself it didn't matter how sexy she was; she was not the sort of girl with which I could associate. She was one of those girls you thought about, but never touched.

Cass, Jax and I kept playing while she read her book. Part of me wanted to keep talking to her, but I had no idea what to say. All I wanted was to hear her voice, her laugh, see her smile and her eyes flashing. I focussed on the game, even thought about Fleur, anything to take my mind off the girl barely a seat from me, yet so far out of reach.


	9. Chapter 9: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

I woke up stretching, then remembered not to disturb the figure at my side.

I looked at Anne, who was finally sleeping comfortably, as little as I knew about these things. She was still pale and she hadn't eaten for about twenty-four hours, but I didn't want to disturb her; she looked in the most comfort I'd seen since I arrived.

I sat up and looked down at myself, seeing the jumper and tracksuit pants that weren't mine. I couldn't tell if there were Jax's or Austin's. But, the way they slid over my skin, I sure knew which twin I imagined them belonging to, though they didn't last long on me in that image.

"Don't be a ridiculous idiot," I whispered to myself as I got up.

I hadn't intended to stay over, but, when I'd seen Anne, I knew I couldn't leave her here on her own. Cass seemed nice enough, but there was a gleam in her eye and a falseness in her I didn't like. And, I won't even start on Austin's less than stellar personality.

It was warm in the room, which was good for Anne, but I was starting to feel cramped. I went to the bathroom to change into my singlet, which was the only thing of mine dry. I swished toothpaste round my mouth and tried to tame my hair before sitting on a chair next to the bed by Anne.

I was surprised how quickly she'd wormed her way into my heart. Apart from my mum, I'd never felt so close to anyone before, even though we'd only known each other about a month. We shared similar interests and she was clever and funny, if a bit shy.

My phone buzzed and I saw Dad was calling. I sighed and moved into the hall to take it.

"Hi Dad."

"Hey sweetheart, how are you?" he asked, sounding unusually jovial.

"I'm okay… How are you?"

"Great." There was an awkward silence for a moment. "So, I hear you're at the Coopers' in London?"

"Seriously?"

"The Coopers are a great family, you could do worse."

"I'm sorry?" I spat.

"I'm just saying, Lil. You could have chosen a lot worse."

"Oh my God, Dad. You're actually going there. You know, when Gem and Katie told me you were going to give me a talk about finding a rich Rosings boy, I had serious hopes you wouldn't let me down. I am not dating anyone, let alone a Rosings boy. If you must know, I'm here for my friend. Jax seems interested in her and Austin is a proud, condescending snob. So, there is no way I shall find myself in the arms of a Cooper. Give up any thoughts of that right now, thank you!" I felt like hanging up on him, but decided to see what he'd say for himself.

"That is a shame. I have heard Austin is a most disagreeable young man, but Claire says it's not his fault-"

"No, I'm sure there's someone else to blame for his superiority complex," I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Are you sure there's no hope with you and Jackson?"

"No! He is very certainly crushing on my friend, Anne."

"Anne Macklin?"

"You know her?"

"I know her mother. We're great friends. I'm so glad you two found each other. I was going to suggest you look her up. Anne's a great beauty; I'm always surprised when Linda tells me she's not been dating."

"Trust me, she's as oblivious to her beauty as Austin Cooper is to what constitutes decent human personality," I muttered.

"Is he really as bad as all that?"

"Yes, Dad. He looks down his nose at everyone, which is somewhat hypocritical given his tattoos. I doubt their precious family think much of those."

"He has tattoos?"

I nodded, then remembered he couldn't see me. "He has quite a few."

"I've never seen them in the pictures."

"Oh no, he's sensible enough to have them where he can cover them up."

"And you've been in a position to see them? Are you sure there's no chance of the two of you?" I could practically hear Dad drooling and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, God. Goodbye, Dad. When you have something decent to talk about, I'll be here. But, until then, I don't want to hear any of your ridiculous nonsense. Give my love to Claire." I hung up on him and saw a message on my phone.

Liam: Had a great time yesterday. Sorry to hear about Anne. Maybe we can hang out again when you get back?

I smiled; now this was a nice-looking boy who didn't seem out to push all my buttons until I wanted to smack him in his stupid face.

 _ **Me:** Me too, I'd like that. I'll let you know when I'm back._

 _ **Liam:** Looking forward to it. Can't wait to see you ;)_

With something to smile about, I decided to head downstairs and see if there was anything in the way of coffee.

I found Austin in the kitchen, facing away from me. He was topless with low-slung jeans and white sneakers, his elbows leaning on the island bench. I leant against the doorframe and watched him for a few minutes, though I couldn't see what he was doing.

Muscles shifted in his back and he crossed his leg, making the lines of ink running across him ripple. There seemed no real design or pattern to the tattoos I could see, but they held my interest as though I could fathom the lessons of the universe in those simple lines.

I don't know how long I stood there. But, eventually, he stood straighter and stretched, lacing his arms behind his head. Panicked, I moved and bumped the cabinet next to me, making it rattle.

Austin turned around slowly, a small smile on his lips as his eyes ranged over me. I felt heat creep up over my cheeks as I saw the look in his smouldering grey eyes. I was more afraid that mine showed a similar look, than I was of seeing it on his face.

"Good morning," he said, leaning back against the island bench, his long legs crossed in front of him.

I cleared my throat and tried to ignore the intensity of his gaze. "Hi. I don't suppose there's coffee?"

"In this house, there is always coffee," he replied, moving around the bench and finding a mug.

Soon, he was pushing a steaming mug of coffee into my hands. His fingers brushed mine and I looked up at him quickly. A smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.

"If you have something to say, say it," I said, breathing a sigh of relief when my voice came out almost normally.

"What makes you think I have anything to say?" he asked, not moving away from me. This close, his scent was a mix of spice and something I couldn't pinpoint. I blinked, trying to keep my mind out of the gutter.

"You have a look about you when you have something you want to say. Though, I can't say you usually hesitate."

"I didn't realise I have a look." His eyes darkened and I felt inclined to take a step back, but I held my ground.

"You have a lot of looks, Austin Cooper."

"Is that so?"

Oh my God, was he flirting with me?

I steeled my face so I gave away no indication as to how fast my heart was beating. "Yes, they are remarkably similar and tend to involve some level of 'jerk'."

His smile didn't falter. "Really?"

I nodded. "Really."

He chuckled. "Have you been watching me? To know about these looks?"

I blinked, but regained my composure relatively quickly. "Unlike some people in this room, I tend to look at person when I'm speaking to them." God, why was he so tall? Why was he so hot? Focus, Lily!

"I'm looking at you now," he said, his voice low.

"I can see that." His toned, muscular chest was right there… I could just reach out and run my fingers along it-

No! None of that!

"I look at you often. In fact, I quite enjoy looking-" He blinked and stepped away. He cleared his throat and stretched his neck. "How's the coffee?"

I laughed at the uncomfortable look on his face. "Now, that is one of your less famous looks; this one tells me you've just realised you might have shown a touch too much humanity and the encounter left you feeling burnt."

His eyes narrowed and I wondered if my boldness had caused me to cross the line, but I couldn't keep the smile from my face. I bit my lip to try to stop the laughter that was bubbling up at the incredulous look on his face. His eyes darted to my lips then back to my eyes.

"I assure you, Lily, I am more than capable of showing humanity and the mere act of being…polite to someone does not leave me burnt," he huffed.

I took a sip of my coffee, raising my eyebrows at him. "Great coffee, by the way."

He studied my face for a moment – though, in truth, I think his eyes roamed a little further than that – breathed out heavily and turned back to whatever he'd been doing when I walked in.

I sipped my coffee, my eyes on him as much to annoy him as to enjoy the sight.

"Bloody hell," he grumbled, shaking his head.

"Everything all right?" I asked nonchalantly. For all I knew, his dry cleaning wasn't going to be ready in time.

"Your father is Daniel Brewer, is he not?"

I frowned. "Unfortunately. Why?"

He spun around, looking confused. "Unfortunately?"

I sighed. "We had an…argument of sorts this morning. He's gone absolutely insane."

He cocked his head to the side. "Right…"

"Don't get me wrong, he can be a decent dad when he wants to, it just seems he's got a one-track mind at the moment."

At my words, Austin's expression clouded. "I see," he said coldly, "I think I've got a fair idea of the sort of man he is."

"Austin, I'm not sure what you're thinking about my dad, but I'm pretty sure even he doesn't deserve that from you." I felt my heart rate increase, and it had nothing to do with how attractive he was. "God, you are such a snob! Look at you, little Mister Rich Boy. Well, I have news for you, mate, you're not all that. Now, you take a guy like Jax? He's so nice that it doesn't matter he's rich. You like the guy before you even know that's apparently a draw point!

"You might be identical, but Jax will always be the sexier of you two because his face isn't marred in a perpetual scowl while he looks down his nose at everyone and everything around him." I was lying my arse off on that point, but he didn't need to know that. "You're so worried girls will throw themselves at you for your money? Sure, because you're so damned dreamy with your shining personality and easy smile. Oh, no wait, that's Jax again."

Austin crossed his arms and scowled harder. "As I am well aware. Why do you think he's not with anyone?"

"Undoubtedly, because you entice them to stay with your winning charms," I snapped.

Jesus, one minute I thought he was flirting with me, and now we're fighting… God, but he was so frustrating!

"Because my brother has a tendency to fall for the wrong-"

"Oz, did you get that… Oh, hi…" Cass walked in and looked up from her phone.

Austin's face looked like thunder as he rounded on her. Not for the first time, I wondered what the relationship between them was.

"What do you want, Cassandra?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, just wondering if you got the message from… Did I interrupt something?" She smiled but her eyes held a glint of disapproval.

I looked between them and could tell I was in the way. "Thanks for the coffee, Austin."

I turned and went back up to sit with Anne.


	10. Chapter 10: Austin

**Austin**

* * *

When Lily was out of earshot, I rounded on my cousin. "What message, Cass?"

"I don't know what I walked in on Austin Cooper, but there's no need to spaz at me," she said, folding her arms as she stared at me.

I raked a hand through my hair and sighed. "What message?"

"From Petal."

"Oh good, and what does my future bride want?" I asked, venom in my veins as I thought about my aunt's stupid plans.

"She was wondering when we're heading back to school. She was thinking she might come over before we go?"

I looked in the direction Lily had gone, frustration eating at me. I'd received an email from Aunt Celia just before everything had turned to shit. Or, rather, the email from Aunt Celia was the reason it all turned to shit.

That, and my ability to forget myself around her.

"Oz, are you even listening?"

"What?" I didn't look at her.

"What the hell did I walk in on anyway?"

I sighed and leant back against the counter top. "Aunt Celia's friend apparently overheard some conversation between Daniel Brewer and Linda Macklin."

Cass wrinkled her nose, knowing just from my words that no good was going to come of that. "That good, huh?"

"According to Aunt Celia, they were tittering – she even used the word tittering – about how their children were well on the way to landing themselves some nice Rosings boys. They didn't name names, but Lily confirmed she talked with him about his one-track mind this morning."

Cass sighed. "That sucks, man, it does. But, we knew they were like that."

"Lily and Anne seemed different."

"Yeah…" she said slowly. "But you'll do best with one of your own. Someone who sees past your money since they have plenty of their own."

I scoffed. "Like who?"

"Well, there's always Petal." She laughed, but there was something in her eye I didn't like. "Speaking of, what shall I tell her?"

"Oh, I don't know!"

"Is your aunt coming home while you're here? I'm going to assume not since you never got that hair cut?"

I mumbled to myself.

She laughed. "What?"

"Aunt Celia tolerates my hair because Fleur likes it. If I keep it long, Fleur wins, if I cut it, Aunt Celia wins. I have no options where I win."

Cass shrugged. "Dye it something outrageous and get dreadlocks. Oh, God, no Oz…" She'd obviously seen the gears working in my mind. "Oz, I wasn't being serious. School will have a fit if you do that and then you'll have to see Celia all the time. Just get another tattoo."

I looked at her in exasperation. "That was Jax's suggestion. Do I only have one avenue for self-expression?"

"'Do I only have one avenue…'" she mocked me. "Do whatever the hell you want, dude. See if I care. Now, what to tell Petal?"

"Tell her we're leaving tomorrow."

"I take it you don't want to see her?"

"You take it right."

"Oz, you can't just avoid her-"

"I thought I could do whatever the hell I want…dude?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'll tell her now's not a good time. You should see her, actually have a conversation with her."

"Why do you care all of a sudden? You've always hated Fleur's obsession with marrying me."

Cass shrugged. "I dunno, just figure you've never really given it a chance. And, now you're moping all over Lily when you clearly dislike it. Just thought I'd give you options, distractions?"

"If I wanted distractions, I'd visit the Longbourn dorm. That's all they're good for, after all," I said, glaring at her.

"You can stop with that, thank you. It's not my fault you've got a crush on a girl you don't want to have a crush on."

"I do not have a crush on anyone!" I said, my tone rising.

"Whatever, Austin, I've got things to do. You can tell Petal yourself." She flounced out and I growled.

Why the hell did I have to fight with every person in my life right now?

I thought about calling Amanda, but she was on some humanitarian mission or something overseas and I had no idea where she was or what time zone she was in; she did so many things, I could never keep up with who she was helping when.

I sat on the barstool in the kitchen, flicking through my tablet again and trying to rid myself of the foul cloud that seemed to be following me lately. Even Jax was avoiding me since I'd snapped at him so many times already that morning.

* * *

After dinner, Lily came back downstairs, saying that Anne was feeling much better and they were going to head back to school the day after tomorrow.

I, however, barely registered her words, as I was fixated on her body. Cass had given her a dress to wear and, even though it wasn't anything special, she looked amazing to me.

When she looked at me, she gave me a small, apologetic smile and I returned it. I didn't have time to actually say anything, as Cass threw on some music and dragged me to my feet.

"Come on, Oz, let's dance," she giggled.

"You're such a weirdo." I smiled.

She whipped me around the floor and I saw that Jax was chatting with Lily.

Lily smiled and laughed at whatever he said with such readiness that her words earlier hit me with more force than they had when she'd uttered them. Did she really like Jax better than me? Even when he was quite clearly enamoured with someone else? Oh, who was I kidding? Of course she did. I'd given her very little reason to like me.

And, you have no reason to give her reason, I reminded myself.

"You're very preoccupied tonight," Cass said. "I'll forgive your terrible mood if you'll tell me what's up."

"Nothing Cass, I'm just thinking about school."

"You most certainly are not. You're thinking about Lily, again. Why don't you ask her to dance if you're so very interested in her?" I looked at her and she was smiling; so, not as putout as her tone suggested.

"I don't think she'll dance with me." Although, I would have very much liked her to.

"You'll never know unless you ask."

I sighed. "Will you leave me be if I ask her? And not laugh if she says no?"

Cass laughed. "If she says no, she's a better woman than I."

I nodded. "Fine."

Cass pulled us towards Jax and Lily, letting go of my hand and throwing herself on the couch.

"Uh, do you want to dance?" I asked.

I saw her pause and smile, but she said nothing.

"Lily? I don't suppose you'd like to dance with me?"

She turned on me with a pleasant smile. "Someone as proud as you will want me to say yes, but I'm going to have to pass on that one, Austin. I'm a terrible dancer and expect I'll only step on your feet. Instead of have you hate me for a broken foot, you will have to hate me for refusing you."

"I don't think I could do either," I said softly.

I could tell by her face she was trying hard to tease me but not insult me, not this time. She looked at me with such openness in her eyes, her smile sincere, apologetic and humoured all at once.

I couldn't hate her for anything in the world. I could despise her family all I liked, but her… Never. I reminded myself heavily of Gemma and Kate, and of Aunt Celia's email, for the rest of the night as we all talked.

Cass gave me strange looks over the course of the night, but I wasn't sure what she saw on my face. She spent a lot of time looking between Lily and me, frowning at me every now and then, then laughing much too loudly at something Lily had said.

Perhaps she, like me, saw that, if I forgot who her family were, I had the capacity to entirely forget myself and be in a serious way to be very much falling in love with her.

* * *

Lily was upstairs with Anne and I sat in the kitchen with Jax and Cass while we ate breakfast.

"So, I saw you making eyes at Lily last night, brother." Jax smiled.

I looked at him over the rim of my coffee cup. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I do," Cass said. Like the day before, though she smiled, her eyes were… There was a hardness to them I hadn't been able to identify.

"Well, you two can form some sort of club and discuss these fictional 'eyes' then," I replied.

"I can think of the first topic for discussion."

"And, what's that, Cassandra?" Jax teased.

"The advantage of being able to tell Daniel Brewer to shut up when Oz and Lily are married," she giggled, taking a bite of food. "You've surely got money enough for the lot of them, so you can hopefully convince Gemma and Kate to be less outrageous flirts."

I glared at her. "My God, you're hilarious. Anything else I should be doing once I'm Mister Brewer?"

Cass tapped a finger against her chin. "You could temper your wife's wit somewhat. It's all very well to have this insulting back and forth in your courtship, but surely you'll tire of it after you've dealt with it every day for the rest of your life."

"Cass, you are wicked," Jax laughed. "Lily is a perfectly nice girl. It won't hurt Oz to have a wife who won't just smile and simper to him, but who matches him in intelligence and argument."

"I'm sorry, brother, are you in on this, too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I put my cup down. "First, there is no way I'm not going to marry Fleur, and now I'm already married to Lily? Bloody hell, I should hurry up and convert to Mormonism, lest I not be able to marry Fleur when the time comes."

"Oh, come on, mate. Everyone but Aunt Celia and Fleur know you're not actually going to marry her. You could do worse than Lily Brewer." Jax smiled.

"Could I, though?" I asked.

At the same time, Cass said, "wait, what?"

I looked at her. "What, what?"

Jax looked at her with as much confusion. "You didn't think Oz had ever seriously thought about marrying Fleur?"

Cass looked between us, her face the only answer we needed. But, she answered, "I…I just didn't realise you'd ruled it out so completely… I mean, she's in love with you."

"She's seventeen, Cass, she doesn't know what love is," I replied, smiling.

"Hang on, Oz. I don't think I can agree with you on that one," Jax said.

I rolled my eyes. "Jackson, don't tell me you think you know what love is?"

He looked at me in the way he did when he got stubborn. It was the look I'd seen when he insisted he jump off the roof like Mary Poppins when we were six. It was the look I'd seen when he said he was going to take breakdance lessons when we were eleven. It was the look I'd seen when he befriended that weird kid Aunt Celia hated when we were fifteen. It was also the look I'd seen when he'd told me he was getting a tattoo the day I got my first one… Until he'd seen the blood and decided perhaps he was better off not getting a tattoo after all.

I sighed and looked at him. I knew well that, when he got like this, he was the only one who could change his mind. But, I knew the look was over Anne, a girl he'd known all of a month. I ignored any comparison my brain tried to draw with Lily.

"Jax, just wait and see how everything goes, yeah? Don't go leaping before you look," I said slowly.

"One day, Austin Cooper, you'll fall in love. Heaven help the poor girl you fall for, because you will no doubt be as unwavering and intense in your love for her as you are in your belief that no one's good enough for us," Jax grumbled, got up and left the room.

I heard him mutter, "hi Lily," as he left and I threw Cass a look to keep her quiet.

Lily stumbled in, looking still half-asleep. "Point me in the direction of the coffee God, yeah?" She smiled and it nearly melted the icy cage I'd thrown around my heart.

"I'll make it for you. Sit down and have something to eat."

She yawned and stretched, the bottom of her t-shirt rising to show off her stomach. I looked to Cassandra and saw I wasn't the only one checking Lily out.

I cleared my throat and made Lily's coffee.

"Here," Cass said, pushing a plate towards her.

"Thanks, I'm not really good at food in the morning. Plus, I want to go back up and check on Anne. I think she's a lot better. We should be more than fine to get back to school before first lesson." She chuckled wryly.

I dropped more than placed the coffee cup in front of her. "Oh, good. Well, just let us know when she's ready and we'll get you a taxi. Can't have Anne catching the bus back."

Lily stood, picking up the cup, and gave me a strange look. "No, no we couldn't have that." She smiled.

She watched me as she took a sip, then licked her lips. I was starting to think she very much knew what that did to me.


	11. Chapter 11: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

I headed back up to Anne's room, my mind on the weird almost-niceness of Austin's comment.

"Hey, look at you, you're up!" I smiled as I walked into the room.

"Hey, look at you; you're in your own clothes again." Anne smiled from where she sat propped up in the bed. She was looking at her phone and she groaned. "Mum's been texting like mad."

"She's probably just worried about you."

She scoffed. "I assure you she's not. She's wondering when Jax is going to propose and when I'll be rich and famous."

I nearly spat my coffee out from laughing. "Sorry, it's not actually funny."

Anne smiled. "It's a little funny. So, how have things been with Mr. Jerkface?"

I chuckled, "I don't know. Honestly, he's weird. One minute, it's like he's flirting with me, the next he's staring daggers at me, then he's ignoring me completely."

"Sounds like he's hopelessly in love with you!" Anne sighed overly-dramatically and I laughed.

"Not likely. Not like Jax is with you. Woo girl, that boy has a serious thing for you!"

"You need to stop saying things like that and getting my hopes up." She smiled, her tell-tale blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Do you want to go down for something to eat?"

Anne's face scrunched up. "I don't know about food, but I would love to get out of this bed."

"Two secs." I drained my coffee and helped her up. "You right?"

"Little weak still, but good."

We headed downstairs and I helped her into a chair at the table in the kitchen. The others had wandered off God knew where and I wasn't terribly fussed they were gone.

As I rummaged around, looking to make Anne some toast, Cass walked back in.

"Anne, you're up! You look so much better."

"Thanks, yes, I'm getting there."

I listened to them talk while I busied myself in the kitchen, entirely without the help of the person who probably knew where everything was. When I turned around, I saw Cass looking at me weirdly, but she instantly turned to Anne and continued talking.

I finished finding what I needed and finally put two pieces of toast and a cup of tea in front of Anne. I sat down with them and we talked for a while about nothing of any consequence.

After Anne had managed to eat most of the toast and half her tea, I helped her move outside where we sat down under the veranda. Just as we were settled, I noticed Jax and Austin, obviously arguing, and both topless, standing over a soccer ball. I arched an eyebrow at them. They were the spitting image of each other bar Austin's hair and tattoos; it was quite surreal to see the two of them together like that.

"You guys, quite right?" I asked, noticing Anne's blush and downcast eyes from the corner of my eyes. "I'm not entirely sure we need so much of you both exposed. It is _very_ distracting."

Jax laughed, then his eyes fell on Anne and he rushed over to sit with her. I watched them for a moment, deep in conversation. Poor Anne didn't know where to look and tried in vain to keep her gaze focussed on his eyes. Although, knowing Jax, she was just as shy about what she saw there as she was about his very buff, shirtless chest.

I was about to say something to Austin, but Cass had gone over to him. His eyes were on me, though, and I wondered what was going through his mind. As he talked to Cass, he pulled a shirt from his back pocket and slowly pulled it on. I tried not to laugh at the notion that he was showing off. Part of me thought he was doing just that, but the majority of me knew better; he was probably so used to being ogled by girls, he just moved that way naturally.

He and Cass came to sit down with us. Austin picked up a book and started reading. Cass sat next to him, looking at something on her phone.

I watched them with humour. I had been fairly sure Cass wasn't into guys, but, the way she was acting with Austin the last couple of days, I had no idea what was going on.

My eyes flicked to Jax and Anne, and I smiled seeing them still engrossed in conversation. Anne had relaxed, seeming to no longer notice her gorgeous companion was half-naked. I watched her laugh at something he said and smiled, returning to my phone.

I busied myself sending messages to Gemma and Kate, and enjoying the rare English sunshine.

 ** _Kate_** _: How goes the grandness?_

 ** _Me_** _: Lol, you should have seen Anne's face when we found the twins both topless!_

 ** _Gemma_** _: God, that's so unfair!_

 ** _Kate_** _: WHAT?_

 ** _Me_** _: Haha. I'm sure you've seen them around the place without their shirts on. It's not that spectacular._

 ** _Gemma_** _: You have to be insane!_

 ** _Kate_** _: Are you sure you're not into Cass after spin the bottle? Those two are GORGEOUS!_

 ** _Me_** _: Trust me, I'm not against a good perve on either of them._

 ** _Kate_** _: You should snag Austin before someone else does!_

 ** _Gemma_** _: There's not much chance of that!_

 ** _Me_** _: True, the guy is about as charming as a cow turd._

 ** _Gemma_** _: I was going to say he's too scary for any girl to talk to him while not entirely inebriated, which isn't really conducive to a relationship, but your description works lol._

I laughed aloud, more of a snort than anything, also surprised that Gemma knew the words 'inebriated' and 'conducive'.

"You okay?" Austin looked at me, waving a hand at Cass as though shushing her.

I looked at him, trying to see him as scary, and trying not to laugh again. "Yes, fine. Just Gemma." I nodded, then turned back to my phone, seeing a new message from Liam.

 ** _Liam_** _: Coming back any time soon? ;)_

 ** _Me_** _: Tomorrow, as a matter of fact. Did you want to do something?_

 ** _Liam_** _: I was thinking lunch. Will you be back by then?_

 ** _Me_** _: Not sure, I'll check._

 ** _Liam_** _:_ _J_

"Anne?" I asked, looking up.

"Yeah?"

"What time did you want to head off in the morning?" I asked slowly.

She grinned. "Have you got plans?"

I gave her a sly smile. "I didn't say I had plans."

"When aren't these plans going to be?"

"There aren't plans possibly for lunch?" I replied, looking at my phone. "They could not be made for later?"

"Lunch should be fine." She smiled. "For those plans you don't have."

I grinned and she winked at me. As I turned back to my phone, I caught Austin and Cass both looking at me with interest. Austin's face was guarded, and I had no idea what he thought of the exchange. Cass looked a little disgusted, or something, and I was surprised. I smiled at her. She gave me a terse smile in return and looked back to Austin, saying something quietly to him.

 ** _Me_** _: Lunch is all good. Where shall I meet you?_

 ** _Liam_** _: Want to text me when you're almost here and I'll meet you out front?_

 ** _Me_** _: Sounds good. How's practice going?_

 ** _Liam_** _: Blerg, not great, we'll lose epically at this rate._

 ** _Me_** _: That is hardly an Aussie attitude!_

 ** _Liam_** _: Haha! Fine, we'll crush them._

 ** _Me_** _: Good, that's what I like to hear._

My phone beeped and Gemma and Kate's conversation popped up.

 ** _Gemma_** _: Where did you go?_

 ** _Me_** _: I have a life outside you two, you know ;)_

 ** _Kate_** _: You do not, shut up. More disastrous! Can you believe there are no parties on this weekend?_

 ** _Gemma_** _: It's a bloody scandal!_

 ** _Me_** _: You make it sound like I can do something about that?_

 _…_

I sighed.

 ** _Me_** _: What do you want me to do?_

 ** _Kate_** _: Ask Jax if he'll throw a party!_

 ** _Gemma_** _: And the Military boys can come!_

 ** _Me_** _: I don't think I can dictate the guest list, guys._

 ** _Kate_** _: You have to try!_

 ** _Gemma_** _: It will be soo boring this weekend if you don't!_

 ** _Me_** _: Can't you do normal things? Like stay in your room and study?_

 ** _Gemma_** _: God, you're boring!_

 ** _Me_** _: Excuse me, who are you trying to convince to make this party a thing?_

 ** _Kate_** _: Yeah, Gemma, shut up!_

 ** _Gemma_** _: You shut up!_

 ** _Me_** _: You both shut up._

"Jesus." I muttered, shaking my head.

Anne smiled. "Problems?"

"Sisters."

"Oh, what's up?" Jax asked.

"Gemma and Kate think you should throw a party next weekend because, scandal of scandals, there isn't one currently planned. And they want the Military College guys to be invited."

Jax looked thoughtful. "I can do that."

"Are you serious?" Cass asked.

"Why not? Would be good to get to know them. We'll have thrashed them that morning, think of it as a celebration." Jax smiled. "Oz?"

I looked to Austin and saw the first look of uncertainty I'd ever seen cross his face. "Do what you like, brother. It's your party."

Jax grinned. "This is going to be great. Anne, will you help me plan it?"

She nodded and they seemed to busy themselves with preparations.

Cass stood up. "Lily, come here a second."

I looked at her, surprised by the warmth in her eyes now. I got up and she met me halfway across the veranda. I saw Austin's eye's following me but ignored him when Cass took my arm and started leading me out towards the grass. She shot a glance at Austin, who'd closed his book and was following us with his gaze.

"Oz, I'm sure you could join us, if you wanted. We could kick the football around."

He smirked at her. "I should think you have a plan in your actions, Cass, and I wouldn't get in the way of that."

"What can he mean, Lily?" Cass asked, mock-indignantly.

I laughed. "Don't bother asking him, it will just feed his superiority complex."

"No, go on, Oz. What's my plan?"

He rested his hands behind his head, crossing one ankle over his knee. "Well, you either want to talk secrets with Lily, perhaps some scandalous love-affair you have planned, or you want me to admire your football skills. If the former, I promise you I have no interest in knowing who your latest planned conquest is. If the latter, I can hardly watch you if I'm with you."

"Oz, you have so little faith in me! How shall I show him my wrath, Lily?" she asked as she kicked the ball to me gently. I barely stopped it.

I smiled at him. "Do what I do, tease him, insult him. Do anything but be… _soft_ with him," I replied, watching his reaction. I saw him swallow hard, a smirk playing at his lips, his grey eyes flashing.

"I find myself, for once, without any notion of what to tease him about," Cass said, waiting for me to kick it back, which I did.

"Nor I. Pity, I could have done with a laugh."

"I suspect you can find something, Lily, you seem quick to tease," Austin said, watching me.

"Ah, but only as a joke, Austin. I would never tease anything good in someone, only quirks. Although, you don't seem to have any."

He raised an eyebrow. "I try to avoid flaws which could see me teased."

"Vanity and pride for example?" I asked and caught a glint in his eyes. Cass and I continued to kick the ball between us, laughing at our complete lack of skill.

"Vanity is an abominable flaw; it leads to ridiculously inflated notions of oneself. Pride, though…" he cocked his head at me. "Pride in someone with good cause, will never be a flaw."

"So, what do you think we _can_ tease him about, Lily?" Cass asked.

"I can't think of a single thing. He is…flawless…"

Austin laughed aloud. "I didn't say that at all! I am well aware I'm not the easiest guy to get along with; I'm quick to anger. I'm a harsh judge of character and any slight against me or mine. I am not above resenting people's behaviour. Woe to the person who loses my faith; they're not getting it back."

"Hm… That is unfortunate, but not something I can tease."

"Not even Netherfield can straighten out some defects."

"And _your_ defect is to hate everybody."

He smiled openly at me and I ignored the fluttering in my chest. "Whereas yours is to be determined to misunderstand them."

Cass put her foot on the ball. "Tell me how the party prep is going, Jax," she said.

I, meanwhile, looked at Austin. The smile on his face was overshadowed by something in his eyes, but it felt as though we shared some sort of secret.


	12. Chapter 12: Austin

**Austin**

* * *

The next day, Lily and Anne were in a taxi cab back to school and I was sitting with Cass and Jax in the kitchen before we, too, headed off. School was back the next day and, as much as I liked the semblance of freedom of London, I'd run into Fleur or Aunt Celia if I stayed past that afternoon.

I wished I could say I was glad they were gone. But, I was only going to see Lily at school when we returned and have no valid excuse in Jax's mind to avoid the girl who plagued mine despite her unsuitability. God, Aunt Celia would have a stroke if I told her I was dating Lily Brewer. Forget dying my hair a radical colour, or even getting another tattoo. Lily Brewer would get me disowned, I was sure. And, I couldn't, in good conscience, leave the burden that was Aunt Celia to Jax.

I had no idea what had got into me the day before with all that talk of flaws and smiling. If I wasn't careful, everyone would know I was starting to fancy Lily, and that would just make things even more awkward. No, it was better I just stop talking to her altogether and move on with my life. Let Jax have the grand love affair, and I could leave everything to his children when I died a childless bachelor.

"If you're so worried about it. Stop being so nice to her," Cass snapped as I lugged her suitcase down the stairs.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're forgiven."

"You complain all week that I'm a grump. What the hell's up you today?"

She glowered and said nothing as we locked up the house and piled into the car.

We arrived back to Netherfield a couple of hours after Lily and Anne would have got back. We dropped our bags off at our rooms and headed to the coffee shop, such as it was, for a late lunch.

"What are you doing about this party, Jax?" Cass asked.

"Having it, of course."

"Of course. And, you're actually going to invite the Military College boys?"

I looked around; there were a lot of them about. We didn't exchange with the Military College every year. Though, a group of us had gone to them the year before. They walked around, all pompous and ridiculous in their uniforms, looking for all the world like animated, horny, toy soldiers.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Why wouldn't you? Are you an idiot?"

I looked at them and Jax looked affronted.

"Leave him be, Cass. His heart's too big for his brain," I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

" _He'll_ probably be here."

" _He_ won't be here. _He_ graduated last year," I said.

"Oh…" Jax said slowly. "Well, we'll just not invite _him_ them?"

 _Him_ was a source of much contention in our family and I ground my jaw just thinking about him. I'd managed not to deck the loser the year before, but there was no telling what I'd do if I saw him again. I felt my fists clench and I relaxed them slowly.

"Oz, breathe, it's fine. She's fine. Take a deep breath," Cass said, stroking my arm.

Jax looked at me, concern written all over his face. I'd spared him the worst of the details, but he knew something bad had gone down and he knew how it affected me.

"It's all good, brother. Like you said, he won't even be here." Jax smiled.

I felt myself relaxing slightly, knowing they were right. I thought of anything else to take my mind off him.

"Have you heard from Aunt Celia?" I asked, as Cass threaded her arm through mine.

"Just the usual updates," Jax replied. "Seems the whole Daniel Brewer and Linda Macklin thing blew over relatively swiftly, although she was _not_ pleased Lily and Anne stayed."

"What were we supposed to do? Send her back to school vomiting?" I shook my head.

Honestly, the empathy and kindness in our aunt dazzled me at times.

Jax shrugged. "What does it matter? We dealt with it. If she actually cared that much, she would have come home and yelled at us in person."

I snorted. "Since when does Aunt Celia yell at us in person when a perfectly civil yet scathing email will suffice?"

"Civil yet scathing is her speciality," Jax chuckled.

Jax had been saved the brunt of her civil yet scathing abuse; I'd made sure of that. But, he knew plenty well our aunt was not exactly mother-of-the-year material.

We finally walked into the coffee shop and I took a deep breath of the delicious smells.

"You have got to be shitting me," Cass spat and I looked around in concern.

My concern turned to rage as I saw what had caused her outburst.

"Oz, don't do anything rash." Cass grabbed my arm and I felt Jax put his hand on my other one.

I breathed heavily, seeing red. It wasn't just seeing _him_. It was seeing who he sat with, who he laughed with. All the memories from the year before came crashing back in and I was ready to knock him out then and there. But, the memories changed as I watched him. Her brown hair became Lily's red hair, her blue eyes Lily's green ones and surrounded in bruises.

My fists clenched again and Jax's grip on me tightened.

"Brother," Jax said quietly, purposefully.

Cass stood in front of me, her eyes wide with fear. "Austin. You listen to me. Nothing good will come of any rash behaviour. Hold it together. Remember who you are, who you want people to think you are. There's nothing you can do. She wouldn't want you to do this."

At her last words, I sagged, knowing Cass was right.

At that moment, he looked up at me. His eyes glittered and his smile hardened. Lily paused as she said something to him and turned to face me. Her laughter became confusion and she smiled at us hesitantly, obviously reading the tension in me. Her eyes skimmed Jax and Cass, both noticeably holding me back, and I saw her frown.

She turned back to him and I saw him answer something she said. But, I didn't stay to witness any more. Much to Cass' and Jax's relief, I pushed back out of there and made a beeline for the gym.

When we got there, I pulled off my shirt and bounced on my toes, trying to get rid of my pent up energy. I threw a few punches, envisioning _his_ face being squashed under my knuckles.

Jax appeared in front of me, his top off now as well.

"Come on then, brother. Let it all out."

"Jax, I don't want to hurt you," I said through gritted teeth.

He laughed, but his eyes were hard as he watched me and I knew he was expecting me to explode at any moment. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried, brother."

I stretched my neck. "You've been warned."

He nodded once and I flung myself at him.

It was a credit to our years of training together; he knew my every move and I knew his. We sparred, Jax's eyes stern as he watched me. He knew I was prone to irrationality when it came to _him_. Jax got me in a headlock and I growled, jabbing him in the ribs and throwing him backwards.

I paused as a look of pain crossed his face, but managed to get my arm up to block his next blow.

"You're slow today, brother." Jax grinned. I knew he was goading me, forcing me to push myself so I released my pent up anger. I wasn't going to deny him.

"Blame the jeans, brother." I grinned back as we circled each other.

"We could have changed."

"And waste all that time. Who knew what I'd do between then and now?"

He laughed. "I can overpower you if I need to."

I felt my eyes darken and I knew he'd seen it by the look on his face.

"No more talk."

We clashed again.

At some point, his focus was pulled behind me and a shot I aimed at his chest connected when it shouldn't have. He went flying backwards, landing on his arse.

"Shit, Jax! What did I tell you?" I asked, kneeling by him, realising all my anger was now gone.

A small blur pushed passed me and I saw Anne.

 _Well, that answers that question_.

"What are you two doing?" she asked, turning to me, no sign she was ever sick.

"It's called sparring, we've only been doing it our whole lives," I replied, wiping sweaty hair out of my eyes.

I looked up and saw Lily's reflection behind mine in the mirror. I briefly caught the open look of desire on her face before it shut down as our eyes met.

"I thought I'd see if you were okay. But, obviously, it wasn't anything a little beating up your brother wouldn't fix," Lily said, crossing her arms.

I turned to face her.

"Shit, it's fine, Lil," Jax wheezed, sitting up. "Trust me; usually it's him on his arse."

She raised her eyebrow as though she seriously doubted that, but I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not.

"Well, if you're all right, Anne and I should really get back…" She flinched a little and I tried to soften the glare I'd trained on her.

"I'm sorry to pull you away from your date. Send him my apologies."

"Oh… Ah, actually, I was thinking we had to get our laundry on before dinner… I don't actually have a clean uniform for tomorrow." She smiled shyly and I resisted the urge to throw my arms around her.

What can I say? I was glad she wasn't going back to him. She must have seen something on my face as she chuckled.

"I'm lazy, I know."

"No… No, that's not…" I stammered.

"Quit yapping and help me up," Jax said and I pulled him to his feet. "Can we walk you back to your dorm?" he asked Anne.

She smiled and nodded. I looked around but didn't see Cass anywhere.

I picked up my shirt, deciding not to put it back on over the sweat dripping from my body, and fell into step with Lily. Jax and Anne walked together ahead of us, talking animatedly.

Lily and I didn't speak; I couldn't think of anything to say and I didn't think it wise to open my mouth and see what came out. I'd promised myself I'd distance myself from her, and Cass had suggested I be less nice to her. My chest twinged uncomfortably at the thought, but I knew it was for the best.


	13. Chapter 13: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

I tried really hard to get the image of a sweat-drenched Austin out of my mind, I promise to God I did. It was second in my head only to the look on his face when he'd seen Liam.

I had no idea what was up with him and Liam, but Liam had a similar look of distaste on his face when he'd seen Austin; there was obviously something going on between the two. God knew I did not want to get caught up in all the drama, but I was intrigued.

"Lil, are you listening?" Anne asked; I had the feeling it wasn't the first time.

"I wasn't, sorry."

She chuckled. "I'm having a hard time getting that look out of my mind too. Damn, Jax is gorgeous."

My mind, thankfull,y diverted to her happiness. I smiled. "He is. He is gorgeous and he is very keen on you, I think. Now, what were you saying?"

There was a knock on the door and I huffed as Anne answered it. I went back to my computer, feeling the need to kill things; I'd been doing that a lot in the last few days since the Great Incident, as Anne had taken to calling it.

"Oh, um, hi," I heard Anne say. "Yeah, she's in here."

"Lil, you decent?"

I groaned as I heard Kate's voice. I spun my chair around and found her and Gemma escorting a very boring looking guy into our room.

"Uh, not really decent, but don't suppose it matters now," I said, looking down at my daggiest tracksuit skirt, jumper and knee-length ugg boots.

"Oh well. Lil, this is Sebastian Chambers…" Kate, who stood in front of him, gave me a very obvious look.

I blinked for a few seconds, and then remembered, and stood up. "Oh, right. Hi, lovely to meet you."

Sebastian wore a black shirt tucked into black pants, with black shoes. I could vaguely see the family resemblance to Gemma. His dark hair looked kinda greasy and his dark eyes were trained on Anne.

"Hi," he said with a weird grimace I assumed was meant to be a smile.

"Uh, Seb, meet Anne, Lily's roommate," Gemma said, circling her hand next to her head, implying he was crazy.

"Pleasure." Seb swept into a low bow, took Anne's hand and kissed it.

"Oh, wow, okay," I blurted out, then clapped my hand over my mouth with a smile at the look on Anne's face.

"Allow me to bestow upon you a great compliment on the alignment of your features, Miss Anne," Seb said, standing straight again.

I swallowed a snigger. "What brings you to Netherfield, Seb?" I asked.

He barely glanced at me. "Your parents invited me to dinner so I could meet you."

"Oh good, well, as you clearly haven't seen, I'm lovely," I said, exchanging a smile with Gemma and Kate. "When's dinner?"

"Not 'til tomorrow, but Seb thought he'd pop in and say hi," Kate replied.

"Please say you will join us for dinner?" Seb asked Anne.

She looked at me in panic, but I held my tongue. I knew if I opened my mouth, I was going to burst into laughter.

"Of course she will," Kate said, hiding her laughter better than I ever could.

"Right, that'll do Seb," Gemma said, grabbing his arm.

I finally composed myself enough that I thought I could speak without making an arse of myself. "Yes, Seb. Anne and I need to go and wash our negligée."

Seb seemed to choke on his own spit and bowed before hurrying out quickly, Kate and Gemma following after.

"What was that?" Anne asked, as she dropped onto her bed, and my laughter burst out of me uncontrollably. I actually fell on the floor, missing the bed I had been aiming for entirely, I was laughing so hard. "Yes, thank you, are you quite all right?" Anne asked.

I shook my head, unable to speak. I could feel tears running down my face and I heard Anne laugh quietly.

"You girls all right?" I looked up and saw Jax in the doorway. He smiled at my laughter, but I couldn't stop. "Jesus, you'd think she'd just seen Austin fall down a flight of stairs."

I pictured it _and_ the indignant look on Austin's face, and laughed harder.

"Thank you for that imagery, Jackson," I heard Austin's voice and my laughter choked off. "Was that Sebastian Chambers I saw with Gemma and Kate?"

I nodded, smoothing my skirt. I didn't trust myself to try to stand up in that skirt.

"You know him?" Anne asked.

"By reputation only," Austin replied.

"What was he doing here?" Jax asked.

"Meeting me apparently."

Jax nodded. "That explains the laughter."

"Are you quite right on the floor?" Austin asked.

I smiled. "I am, thank you, yes." He gave me a crooked look. "Okay, fine, I just don't trust I can get up without flashing you."

I saw his mouth quirk and his eyes shone as he walked towards me. He put his hands out and I reached up to take them. As soon as our hands touched, I had a moment; I won't deny it, as embarrassing as it was. His warm hands wrapped around mine and I felt tingles shoot down my arms. He had me halfway to standing and I thought I was going to fall back down again.

Instead, he pulled a touch harder and I found myself pressed against his chest, since I apparently lacked the ability to stop my momentum. I let myself rest there for a few seconds, then remembered who I was leaning on, where I was leaning on him, and who was watching us. I jumped back, pulling my jumper down.

"Ah, thanks," I said, not at all having the ability to look at his stormy eyes.

He inclined his head and spun on his heel.

Anne cleared her throat. "Right, we ready for dinner then?"

"But what about my negligée, Annie?" I cried dramatically, laughing again as I remembered Seb's reaction to the word.

She took my arm in hers and laughed with me. Austin and Jax gave us strange looks but followed us down to the dining hall in silence.

* * *

I sat at the dinner table in awkward silence. I'd convinced Anne to come after all. Although, after I saw the way Seb stared at her, I felt a little bad about it.

"Yes, my scholarship was funded by Lady Celia Cooper; she is a very prominent and thoughtful benefactress," Seb was saying as he sipped his wine.

 _God, what I wouldn't give for this to be seven months later and I could down a few shots. Maybe then, Seb wouldn't be so boring._

"Negligée," I whispered to Anne and we both laughed.

Dad shot me a look. "Lily and Anne are quite well acquainted with the Cooper twins, aren't you girls?"

Seb looked at us as though the sun suddenly shone out of our arses, as though from behind a cloud. "That is lucky indeed. I was always jealous I never went to Netherfield myself and didn't get to meet them. I hear Jackson is a lovely boy."

I sniggered. "Yes, he is. Though, Austin's manners could use some work."

"Lily!" Dad chastised.

I shrugged. "It's true and you can ask anyone at school."

He looked around as though we were going to be kicked out if someone heard me saying such things. "Yes, but we don't have to broadcast it in public."

Claire put her hand on Dad's arm. "It's fine, Daniel. I'm sure, if anyone knows, Lily does." She sent me a small wink and I smiled. "If Lily says this Austin Cooper could do with more manners, I suspect he does."

Seb looked around the table, his eyes finally resting on Anne again. I almost choked on my chicken at the seriously lecherous way he was ogling her. She wasn't looking and I decided not to draw attention to it.

"So, Seb, I hear you're getting Claire's company when she retires?" I said.

He dragged his eyes away from Anne so slowly I thought he wasn't even going to bother looking at me. "Yes, it was Grandfather's and meant to pass to me through my father. But, Aunt Claire took over when Father died, she's a…custodian of the company, I suppose you could say."

He looked to Claire, who nodded, though she looked a little pissed off. "Yes, and we will be lucky enough to have Seb join us at work next week. He'll be shadowing me and getting ready for when it's his time to lead."

Seb's smile was simpering. "Aunt Claire will be a very useful resource, I'm sure, as we work together."

I caught Claire's eye and saw her roll her eyes towards me. I covered my laugh with a cough. Anne snuck a look at me, smiling. Gemma and Kate were sitting together, looking at one of their phones and giggling whispered words to each other.

"Girls!" Dad hissed.

They looked up, only slightly chastised. Kate caught my eye and I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it from my pocket and saw Kate had sent me a link to a Facebook picture. I opened it and almost spat my coke across the table. If there had ever been a time I wished my coke was spiked, it was now.

Anne leant over my shoulder. "Oh, wow," she breathed.

"Girls, you are being very rude to our guest," Dad hissed again.

I shot a look to Seb, who seemed quite happy to just stare at Anne between looking around the restaurant haughtily.

"It's fine, Daniel," Claire repeated quietly. She looked at me in question and I shook my head.

"Are you okay?" Anne asked.

"What? Why?" I replied, my voice not quite as strong as I would have liked.

I looked again at the picture of Austin with his arms around two tall, blonde girls. I didn't know why it should bother me. It _was_ a Thursday night though; what were the boys doing at what looked like a party?

"Any sign of Jax?" I asked, scrolling through the pictures.

There were only a couple. In one, Jax was playing ping-pong with that Williams guy. In another, he was smiling with Cass. In the last one, he was in Austin's face, a displeased look on his face and a very nonchalant response was all he seemed to get in return.

"Lily, are you-"

"What? Why should it bother me? Austin is nothing to me but a snobbish, proud arsehat who obviously has no qualms about drunkenly hooking up with whoever is closest." I'd seen him leave with those two girls from the last party we went to – and his morning after walk of shame – but I couldn't have said I'd believed it was a normal thing for him. "What could possibly possess one of these girls to hook up with him?"

Anne blushed and, by their giggles, I knew Gemma and Kate had heard me. Anne gave Gemma and Kate a glare over my shoulder and a slight shake of her head.

"But-"

"Kate!" Anne hissed, looking to Claire, Dad and Seb who were talking among themselves. She looked back to me and cleared her throat, her face still red. "Word is, Austin is definitely a guy you want in your bed…"

I tried to answer, but nothing came out. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Sorry… I thought you were just intimating that girls are more than happy to get drunk and shag him?"

Kate giggled again. "Word is he's hung."

"And he knows how to use it," Gemma said.

"I heard that's not all he knows how to use." Kate winked at me.

Now, I'm not super-prude or anything, I've had…intimate moments, but this was just ridiculous. Even, I felt my cheeks flush as a flurry of images bombarded me; mostly involving Austin's chiselled, bare chest.

"Oh my God, you two shut up right now," I growled, looking to our parents, as I held my cold glass to my face.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like they'd heard as they were still busy in conversation.

"You didn't know?" Gemma asked.

"Jesus, why would I know?" I blurted out, making myself sound much more guilty.

Kate and Gemma sniggered. "Are you sure you don't know?" Gemma said.

"She most certainly doesn't. She's not some stupid, flighty drunk girl, happy to relieve herself of her dignity to have one night in Austin Cooper's bed," Anne whispered over me to my sisters.

"You did stay with him last weekend." Kate pointed to me with her fork.

"I stayed with Anne!"

"Maybe Cass is more her type?" Gemma commented.

"God, kill me now. You two are-"

"Girls?" Dad said and I realised my voice had risen.

"Dad?" I replied, feigning ignorance to the question on his face.

"What are you lot talking about?"

Kate and Gemma giggled again. My face flushed a very impressive red, judging by the heat. And, Anne coughed politely to hide a laugh.

"We were just talking about the upcoming sports tournament." She smiled.

"Oh, yes. The old Military College and Netherfield clash." Claire smiled. "I used to love those."

"I was thinking I'd hang around for a bit and maybe catch some of the games?" Seb said, smiling at Anne.

"Can you do that?" I asked before my mind reminded me to think before I spoke.

Claire nodded. "Oh yes, the clashes are open to the public. Not that anyone but Military College or Netherfield connections are really all that interested by it."

"Oh, I don't know," Kate said. "If I had the chance to go and watch some very pretty boys play sport, I'd go regardless."

"Yes, dear," Claire shared a look with me and sighed, "I am well aware of that."

"Oh, Claire." Dad smiled at her. "It's a wonderful experience for the girls to meet some nice boys."

"Some _rich_ boys you mean," I muttered.

"Lily, don't disrespect your father." Claire's tone was chastising, but her face was sympathetic.

"There's nothing wrong with ambition, Lily," Dad said.

I rolled my eyes, but kept them down so Dad wouldn't see. The rest of dinner passed reasonably pleasantly, but I suspected that was because I kept my mouth shut.


	14. Chapter 14: Austin

**Austin**

* * *

I threw a punch at Jax and he easily avoided it.

"Due, you're listless today. Have you been sleeping?" Jax asked.

"Why would I be sleeping?" I scoffed.

Jax smiled, but it was sour. "Mate, you need to. You can't go into the clash like this."

I raked a hand through my hair, thinking maybe it was getting too long, and sighed. "Am I even in the team?"

"Why would you not be in the team?"

I shrugged. "Do I want to be in the team?"

Jax dropped his hands and stopped circling me. "I am getting seriously sick of this attitude, brother."

I took a deep breath. "Sorry. Let's just go and raid Williams' stash and I promise to throw off my sour mood."

Jax started. "You want to what?"

I shrugged. "Let's just get drunk and not worry about shit."

"Okay, what has happened to my twin and what alien life form is standing in front of me?"

"One who is temporarily sick of being the good boy and just really needs to blow off some steam," I replied.

"All right, mate, let's do it." Jax shrugged and we left the gym and our sparring session.

I could see the hesitation on his face, but I also knew he was as desperate as me to be anything but the angry arsehole I'd been since I saw Liam Anders again. Jax was the nice twin, everyone knew that, and his inability to truly hate anyone was testament to that. Even after everything Anders had done, Jax couldn't actually hate him. I knew he didn't like him, none of the Coopers did, but he also hadn't seen everything I'd seen. The way Anders had-

 _No, I'm not going to think about that now_.

"Oz, calm down." Jax laid a hand on my arm as we were getting changed.

I realised I was clenching my fists and I'd growled out loud.

"Sorry, sorry," I said, taking a deep breath.

I stretched my neck.

"You sure you want to do this?" Jax asked and I nodded. "All right, impromptu party in the common room!"

I forced a smile at his forced cheerfulness and we walked to the Rosings common room. It was just going to be a small group of our year, a few people having a drink and listening to some music.

I walked in and made a beeline for the drinks table, smiling at everyone as I walked passed. I received some shocked smiles in response, and turned on more of the charm. Soon, I had girls smiling coquettishly at me and some even approached me to talk.

"To what do we owe this Austin?" Cass asked, sauntering in and pushing a girl out from beside me.

"I have no idea what you mean, cousin."

Her eyebrow rose and she sniffed my cup. "I know Liam's a wanker and I know your future baby mama seems to have a thing going on with him, but seriously man, this is not the way to deal with it."

I frowned at her. "You're out of line, Cassandra."

She was not intimidated by the growl in my voice or the venom I'm sure she saw in my eyes. She put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

"Austin Cooper, you will not take that tone with me. I am not some floozy whose bed you can charm your way into. Neither am I Lily, who you profess to be crushing on but are determined on pushing away for the sake of your family image." She wrinkled her nose. "I am also not your trusting, gullible, loving brother who will do anything to make you happy."

I actually started to quail under the fierceness in her tone.

"I do not profess to be crushing on Lily," I stated.

"Uh-huh, stands to reason that _that_ is what you focussed on."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I spat.

She gave me a very ugly look, which I don't think I ever remembered seeing on her face before. "You are all kinds of hung up on this girl and its messing with your head. Either side with your pride and get over it, or man up and do something about it." She pushed me in the chest with her finger. "Just take her to bed on Saturday instead of some other slag and get her out of your system if that's what it takes."

I mentally groaned. Saturday was the big party that Gemma and Kate had convinced Jax to throw. I'd almost forgotten and I wasn't going to lie that the idea of taking Lily to bed wasn't an enticing one. Maybe Cassandra was right, and I just had to get her out of my system. She was just a Longbourn girl after all, we could never have a future, but I could still enjoy her. As much as a part of me thought that was the perfect solution, something about the idea further soured my mood.

I also wasn't sure where Cass' sudden obsession over me and Lily had come from. I know I'd never told my cousin that I liked anyone before, but this weirdness on Cassandra's part was confusing – she'd never been a one-woman girl anyway, so I wasn't sure why she was so interested in my potential love-life.

"What the hell? You don't even like her. Since when are you condoning any sort of relationship with her?" I asked, slamming down the last of my drink and stepping towards the drinks table.

"You really think you need more?"

"With you in my face, yes," I sighed. "The least you could do, if you insist on me being lectured, is to have it delivered by a hot girl I have some hope of taking to bed."

She clucked her tongue at me. "Just don't blame me when you turn around and Lily's in someone else's arms, like Liam Anders," she snarled.

I realised my fist was pulled back. Had she been Jax, or any of the other guys in the room, it would have rammed forward and found its target. However, I wasn't about to hit a girl, let alone my cousin.

Her eyes flared with something like triumph. "I don't care if you use her like one of your other one-night-shags, I don't care if you propose to her, I don't care if you walk away. Just get your head out of your damn arse and do something instead of mope around over her."

"I am not moping! I am not hung up on her. She's nothing to me."

"Then you won't mind when she's hanging off Anders' arm through the clash."

"You watch yourself, Cass. I thought I was above hitting a girl, but, for you, I might make an exception," I growled.

She laughed wryly. "You do that and you're just proving my point, Austin."

She flounced away and I found myself surrounded by a couple of girls with a bottle of whiskey. I danced with them, making sure I paid each of them the proper attention. At some point, a camera went off in my face, but I just smiled and laughed it off while I had another drink.

I was about to head out with the girls and our empty bottle, when Jax grabbed my arm and sent the girls on their way. I shoved him back, feeling a lazy smile creep across my face and the warm buzz of alcohol in my veins.

I was freaking untouchable and I finally didn't care.

"What?" I asked.

"I am this close to smacking the shite out of you, brother," Jax said.

I leaned close to him. "Have you been speaking with our wonderful cousin?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I haven't and I don't need to. This is ridiculous even by your standards, mate. This isn't like you and I'm putting my foot down."

"You can put your foot wherever you want, brother dear." I smirked and winked. "I'm putting something else down."

He shook his head. "That was awful. Come on, we're going. I'm taking you to bed."

I laughed. "I'm not into gay incest, brother."

"Bloody hell, Oz. How much have you had?"

I looked at the slightly blurry face of my two brothers. "Enough to make us a triplet," I snickered.

Jax looked at me and sighed. "Man, we've got class tomorrow. Am I going to have to tell the teachers you got drunk and couldn't come to class because you were hungover and throwing up everywhere."

I giggled somewhat hysterically. "I do not-" I slammed my mouth shut as my stomach churned.

Jax crossed his arms and looked at me, then caught the look on my face. "Oh, shit. Come on."

He dragged me out of the room and I didn't remember much else.

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling like I'd been run over by a steamroller.

I rolled over and saw it wasn't even the morning, it was after lunch. I groaned and buried my throbbing head under the blankets.

Flashes of the night before flew through my mind and I groaned again. I'd made a total arse out of myself.

"Yeah, I know he makes you whack out," I heard Cass' almost sympathetic voice and I snuck a peek out of the covers.

"Inside voice, Cass."

She laughed, unnecessarily loudly. "You deserve everything you get. You're bloody lucky Jax convinced me not to wake you up at eight and make you go to class as hungover as shit."

"Ugh, I'll thank him when I see him."

"You will. You'll also thank him for keeping an eye on you in the shower while you threw up all over yourself and for making sure you didn't die in your sleep."

"God, what's with the third degree, Cass?" I asked. "You make it sound like we've never had to do that for you."

"I would never presume to intimate you hadn't. But, at least when I drink to excess it's not because I'm angry and I don't threaten my cousins with violence."

I winced as I remembered I'd almost hit her. "I'm sorry, Cass, but you know how I get about Anders."

She huffed. "That is no excuse, Cooper." But her tone was softer. She sighed. "Look, I know he did a number on her-"

"Cass, you didn't see…" I petered off and slowly sat up.

She sat on the side of the bed and snuggled into me. "I know, Oz. I know, but you can't blame yourself forever."

I raked a hand through my hair. "I need a haircut."

"I'm sorry?" She sat up and looked at me.

"You heard," I forced out. "I'm getting my hair cut."

"Why?"

"Because," I said softly, "if I don't, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up my indifferent façade."

She kissed my cheek and snuggled back into me, rubbing my arm. "You'll be right, Oz, you'll be right."


	15. Chapter 15: Lily

**Lily**

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and chilly, and we were entirely ready for the first match of the Netherfield and Military College clash.

I hadn't spoken to Austin all week and I hadn't been surprised to hear he'd missed class because he was hungover the day before. Not that it mattered to me, because it didn't.

Gemma and Kate dragged me, Anne, Marie and Charlie to the soccer pitch well early. When we got there, the Military College boys were warming up at one end and our Netherfield boys were warming up at the other.

I was surprised when I saw Jax and Austin. Or, was it Austin and Jax? Both wore long-sleeved tops, and one could easily have been a reflection of the other; Jax's hair had grown out a bit since I'd first met them and Austin had cut his to match his brother's. After a moment, one of them laughed and I could quite easily tell them apart again. At least some things didn't change.

"There's Liam!" Kate squealed, elbowing me in the boob and I turned to where she was pointing; Liam was warming up with Dane.

"Jesus, Katie. Calm the hell down," I said, rubbing my sore chest gingerly.

My gaze wandered back over the field and I noticed Austin staring at me. I then realised I was rubbing my boob while he stared at me.

"Oh, shit…" I mumbled, my hand dropping, and I turned around.

I saw Liam waving, so I smiled and waved back, ignoring the snobbish manwhore at the opposite end of the pitch to the very nice guy waving at me. Liam jogged over and hugged me.

"I'm glad you're here," he said, kissing my cheek.

I smiled. "Where else would I be early on a Saturday morning?"

"In bed," he replied, winking.

I laughed. "Maybe next weekend."

He grinned. Someone called his name and he bowed. "I hope we can talk about that later, but my team calls."

"Liam!" Kate cried, throwing herself on him.

He smiled at her and gently pulled out of her arms. "I'll see you lovely ladies after we give these boys a right kicking. I hope you're barracking for us."

"Of course!" Kate giggled.

I folded my arms. "I'm not sure I can justify barracking against my home team. It'd be like going for…is it the Demons against…the…Crows?" I asked slowly.

Liam put a hand to his heart and mock-swooned. "A lady who knows her football."

"Oh, no. I'm totally guessing on that," I laughed.

"What kind of football teams are _they_?" Charlie asked.

"Aussie Rules. Not Soccer," Liam explained.

Anne smiled. "That's right; you call it soccer on your side of the world."

Charlie nodded and pulled his phone out. Knowing him, he was Googling it all and learning everything he could. I watched him with a smile. He was such a computer nerd; he was already a programming genius and I was pretty sure he'd have the ability to sell a game and make millions before he was twenty… If he was slightly less content with just pottering around on his computer.

"Anders!" we heard someone call and Liam gave us an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, gotta run."

"Go on then, and good luck," I said.

"No kiss for luck?" he asked.

Kate giggled and threw herself on him again, kissing his cheek.

"Lily?" he winked.

"I can't risk giving you too much luck." I smiled.

He clutched his heart in mock-pain.

I laughed. "I might make it up to you later."

His eyes flashed with something I recognised well. It was more feral and darker than I'd seen in Austin's eyes, but everything else about Liam was lighter and kinder.

"Anders, for feck's sake!" his teammate – it was Dane – called out.

"I'm coming!" he yelled back, before he bowed again and jogged off.

"So, how does this game actually work?" Kate asked.

"Are you kidding me right now?" I asked, my voice clearly insinuating I knew everything about the fantastic sport.

 _Of course, Austin has to play a sport I love…but, then so does Liam…_

"Do you guys even have proper football in Australia?" Gemma asked.

"We don't need proper football in Australia, we have access to an ingenious thing call the internet," I said, sticking my tongue out at her. "But, for your information, yes, we do."

A whistle blew and they were off amidst cheers. Liam and Jax were both centres.

The Cooper boys were good, there was no other way to look at it. They weaved in and out of players, passing between each other like they read each other's mind. And, it wasn't just them, they seemed to be able to read the whole team. With Jax's face in serious-mode, it sometimes took a second look to determine who was who since Austin played in front as well. As I watched them, though, I knew which Cooper was which; Jax, though good, couldn't quite match up to his brother's superior footwork.

After Netherfield's first goal, about half-way through the first half, Liam shoved Jax as he passed with the ball. I saw Austin go red and run straight for Liam. Austin slid into him, pushing the ball to Williams and taking Liam down in a tangle of legs. The referee blew his whistle and awarded Liam a free. Austin got in Liam's face, then yelled at the referee.

At about forty minutes, Austin went at Liam again.

"Shit, he's going to get himself carded," I muttered.

"What's the story with them?" Anne asked.

I shrugged.

"It's just further proof Austin's a wanker. Here's Liam, a perfectly nice guy and Austin's just being a self-centred arsehole," Kate said, crossing her arms.

I watched as the referee blew the half time whistle on a one-all draw. Jax was holding Austin away from Liam while Austin pointed a finger and yelled. I couldn't hear the words from where we stood, but it didn't look like he was congratulating him on his technique.

"Is that Austin Cooper yelling at that other player?"

Kate, Gemma, Anne and I shared a sigh as we turned to see Seb behind us.

"Yes, it is," Kate huffed. "He's a seriously wacked out guy. Liam didn't even do anything."

"He did shove Jax," Anne said slowly.

Seb's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked out towards where Jax had been joined by Williams and Cass to restrain Austin.

"God, we're going to be decimated if we fall a man down…" I said as I watched Austin dragged away.

Liam watched him go, but I couldn't see his face from that distance. He said something to Dane, clapped him on the back and they ran to their huddle.

"Jax was good though, wasn't he?" Anne turned to me.

I laughed. "You don't need to sound so unsure."

"Oh, come on. I'm really not a sports girl."

"No, but you're a Jax girl," I said, taking her arm.

"Are you dating Jackson Cooper?" Seb asked.

Anne opened her mouth but I nudged her silent. Kate answered before I had a chance.

"She may as well be. They'll be making it official soon, he may as well just propose already." She smiled.

Seb's lips pursed, then he turned to me, a new look in his eye… The way he had previously been looking at Anne.

 _Just great…_ I said to myself.

"Can I get you a drink before the next half starts…Lily?" he asked, as though he'd forgotten my name.

I wanted to say no, but a) I could really use coffee and b) if it got him out of the way for a while then that would be great.

"Sure, coffee, white, no sugar, thanks Seb." I tried my hardest to smile.

Seb thought for a moment, nodded, then hurried off.

"It'll take him like ten minutes just to walk to the coffee shop from here." Anne smiled.

I shrugged. "So, I've given myself about twenty minutes before he'll be back."

"Was he making eyes at you, Lil?" Kate asked.

I shuddered. "It's better than him making eyes at Anne."

Anne jumped. "What?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "Only you would be so oblivious that a guy was interested in you." I squeezed her arm and we turned back to the pitch where the guys were jogging back on.

The second half started. As it got more tense, both teams trying to pull ahead, I found myself yelling at them.

"Watch out for your side! On him! Bloody hell, Williams, stop hogging the ball!"

Williams heard that one and kicked the ball off; he turned to me with a smile as he slowed down.

"You a football fanatic, Lil?" he asked.

"What can I say?" I smiled.

He chuckled as he ran off.

Not long after, Austin ran towards Liam again and I could see he was, yet again, in serious risk of getting himself carded. I stepped forward unconsciously.

"Keep it clean, Cooper!" I screamed at him. "We cannot afford unnecessary cards!"

I actually saw him pause and, when he took the tackle, it was clean.

I heard Anne laugh and turned to her.

"What?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "I haven't seen you this excited the whole time I've known you. You really are a fanatic."

I grinned. "When you love something, you love it. I can't not get excited about soc…football."

I turned back to the game just in time to see Austin's less than clean tackle.

"Austin, you arsehat!" I yelled, knowing the call well before the referee jogged over and pulled the yellow card from his pocket. "You're bloody lucky that wasn't in the box, you great numpty!"

Kate and Gemma burst into hysterical giggles.

"Don't mind her, Sebastian," I heard Anne say, "she's in love."

"What?" Seb and I asked at the same time.

Anne chuckled. "With the game, of course."

I'd heard Anne's innuendo, but I ignored it, instead taking the coffee from Seb and turning back to the game. I threw myself into it… Anything not to think of the heart-fluttering that had occurred at Anne's words, while I watched Austin yelling at Jax.

Netherfield managed one more goal and I was hovering on the boundary line like an absolute nutter, totally freaked out that Austin was going to get carded again and we'd lose if he was sent off.

"No, no, no…" I mumbled, unconsciously pacing back and forth along the line as I followed the play. "Oh, Williams, seriously dude!"

Williams finally passed it off to Jax – recognisable by the slight stumble of his stop – and I saw Liam hurtle towards him.

"Shit, he thinks that's Austin…" I said, grabbing Anne's arms and squeezing tight.

"No… He's not-" Anne was cut off as she watched Liam careen into Jax, who went down hard.

That, though, wasn't what had me worried. There was another impossibly handsome, stupidly tall, ash-brown-haired body heading straight for Liam.

"Oz, no!" I screamed.

He screeched to a halt and stared at me, totally missing Liam's fist as it smacked into the side of his head.

"What the hell!" I almost ran onto the pitch, but Anne's hand steadied me.

Amidst the referee pulling a red card out of his pocket for Liam, Austin's fist smacked just as impressively into Liam. The referee blew his whistle frantically as the two boys went down. I didn't know who to feel more for; Liam was kind and sweet, but Austin was on my home team. As Austin's fist smashed into Liam's face again, compassion for my countryman won out and all I felt was anger at Austin.

"What the hell is that maniac's problem?" I muttered, still holding onto Anne's arm.

I heard Seb 'tsk' behind me. "Lady Celia will not be impressed with this."

Jax, Williams and a couple of other teammates pulled Austin off Liam while the referee waved a red card in his face, and we watched as Liam was pulled away by Dane and his teammates.

"Well, at least it's still a level playing field," I said as play resumed. I turned to Seb. "You know much about football, Sebastian?"

"I don't know much about it, but am more than happy to learn."

"Good… Pay attention," I replied before launching into a full on play-by-play, only to be interrupted when the team needed yelling at.


End file.
